Internal Medicines Updates and Primary Care Updates

Entering into 2025, the status of Telehealth Visits is in a very unusual place.  CPT has created new codes for Telehealth services.  Unfortunately, CMS/Medicare will not be allowing these services and should still be billed with the appropriate E&M services as you have been. The Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule for 2025 had much information about telehealth for the new year.  It did not showcase that without Congress passing legislation regarding telehealth originating location only patients in certain rural and underserved areas will be eligible to participate in telehealth services.  That this one aspect of telehealth services, location of the patient, would revert to pre-Covid-19 status.  Congress did pass the American Relief Act of 2025, but it only extends the location flexibility for 90 days. 

Other changes for Primary Care and Internal Medicine offices for 2025 from the Medicare for 2025 include a new add on code strictly for use by infectious disease specialists in the hospital or observation setting.  CMS/Medicare has also changed its policy, so you are now allowed to bill the complexity add on code with preventative services as they have defined. 

The process for Certification of Therapy plans of treatment is seeing major changes along with changes to the supervision for PT and OT assistants.

Webinar Objectives

Each year changes to the to the ICD-10-C system are released.  The changes to CPT codes are released by the AMA and then CMS/Medicare releases updates to codes that are on the physician fee schedule.  All offices need to be aware of the changes to understand how they affect their office process, their employees and their providers on a day-to-day basis.  This webinar objective is to give an overview of all the changes specialized for Primary Care offices (Family Practice and Internal Medicine) so you can focus on only those changes that affect you. 

Webinar Agenda

The session will start with a telehealth update – discussing where are we with the new CPT codes and where is Congress in their legislation for extending the telehealth’s geographical restrictions.

Other changes created by CMS/Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule will then take place such as clarifying changes to the add-on complexity code for E&M services and the new complexity code for infectious disease physicians.  Discussions around colorectal screening tests that will be allowed for payment and clarifications of who can get the Hepatitis B vaccine and when. 

Webinar Highlights

• Telehealth services
  • what are the new CPT codes and how to utilize them                                                                                                                                                       
• Medicare changes to telehealth services
  • what can and cannot be billed as of today
• Amendments to the paperwork requirements Medicare places on orders for therapy services (Pt, OT, SLP)
• A couple of noteworthy  ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes including a new classification of the severity of eating disorders such as bulimia

Who Should Attend

Coders, Billers, Office Managers, Office Administrators