The word “historic” is often used by PR professionals to hype something that is, well, pretty run-of-the-mill. They figure that no one is going to read a news release that announces “[Name of organization] proposes small change that really won’t make much of a difference.” The problem is that when something is done that really measures up to being historic, the recipient is less likely to believe it, kind of like the constant breaking news chyrons loved by cable news shows.
Recently, CMS — the agency that runs Medicare — issued a press release announcing “Historic Changes to Modernize Medicare and Restore the Doctor-Patient Relationship.” You know what? This one may actually live up to the billing!
CMS is proposing to radically overhaul how it pays physicians for office visits and other evaluation and management (E/M) services; to lift restrictions on payment for telehealth consults and other physician services that are not part of the office visit itself; and to ease the myriad of crushing administrative tasks imposed on physicians to document their services or to get credit for participating in Medicare’s Quality Payment Program.
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