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Report Reveals Whether E/M Changes Freed up Provider Time

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Report Reveals Whether E/M Changes Freed up Provider Time

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Evaluation and management

When the CPT rules changed in 2021 and the evaluation and management (E/M) coding requirements were overhauled, one of CMS’ goals was to cut back on the documentation burden that providers faced. By choosing E/M codes based on time or medical decision making (MDM) for outpatient visits, the idea was that providers would have more time for patient-facing care. Practice managers worked to adjust patient scheduling rosters to allow for more patient visits in the wake of these changes. But many providers have wondered if they actually have more time with patients than they did before.

A new study aimed to evaluate whether documentation time for evaluation and management visits actually dropped after the new rules went into place. Check out some of the highlights below.

Documentation Time Dropped—But Not By Much

As part of the study, researchers pulled electronic health record (EHR) data from September 2020 through December 2021. That data came from specialties with a variety of E/M volume fluctuations: family medicine and internal medicine (high-volume), orthopedics (low-volume) and cardiology (moderate volume). They then calculated documentation time for three periods:

  • Prior to the E/M change: September to December 2020
  • Right after the E/M change: January to April 2021
  • Months after the E/M change: September to December 2021

After reviewing the data from 18,392 physicians across the three periods, the researchers found that documentation time decreased slightly before the changes kicked in, and continued to go down in the two periods after the change took place. From the first period to the third, mean documentation fell significantly:

  • Internal medicine: Average documentation time dropped by 16.2 seconds
  • Family medicine: Average documentation time dropped by 13.8 seconds
  • Cardiology: Average documentation time dropped by 12.6 seconds
  • Orthopedics: Average documentation time dropped by 6.6 seconds

Although these reductions in documentation time were interesting, they did fall short of the 19 seconds that CMS initially predicted would be the average in documentation reduction across specialties.

What Might This Mean for Patient Scheduling?

If you dramatically changed your scheduling systems in 2021 as you anticipated more time for patient care, you may want to use these new documentation time estimates to adjust scheduling or ensure that you’re still on the right track.

For instance, suppose you’re with an internal medicine practice and your physicians saw an average of 24 patients a day for an average of 20 minutes each before the E/M changes. Following the E/M changes, you’d gain eight extra minutes per day in the physician’s schedule based on the new study results. This is likely not enough time to see even one additional patient in a day, although across the course of a week, it would add up, giving you 40 extra minutes each week.

In light of these study results, it may be a good idea to take a close look at your scheduling systems to ensure you didn’t make too many major changes in 2021 to anticipate the E/M changes, and talk to your providers to ensure they aren’t overscheduled.

Seeking clarity on the E/M documentation requirements? Let expert Kim Huey, MJ, CHC, CPC, CCS-P, PCS, CPCO walk you through everything you need to know to collect for these services. During her one-hour online training event, Master New 2023 E/M Coding Changes, Kim will show you real-world examples so you can code properly every time. Register today!


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