In our December 9 webinar regarding provider compensation, ECG asked participants how they were going to handle the changes to the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).
Notable Survey Findings
- Consistent with ECG’s experience with many clients, nearly 50% of survey participants said they are preserving the 2020 MFPS for internal RVU calculations.
- However, nearly 40% of respondents indicated they have not decided how to treat the 2021 MPFS for purposes of determining provider pay.
Without a clear approach for addressing MPFS changes, organizations will experience issues such as:
- Significant unbudgeted compensation payments to providers.
- Additional net investment in providers due to compensation increases not being offset by reimbursement changes.
- Providers anxious about compensation without clear communication or direction from leadership.
- Increased exposure to risk by paying providers more for the same amount of work.
ECG recommends that medical groups immediately assess the impact of the MPFS changes on provider compensation, determine a strategy that best aligns with organizational priorities, and create and communicate a plan to implement changes.
