Today's subject is the Annual Wellness Visits with Medicare patients.  There is still quite a bit of confusion about them.   There is confusion with the patients, with the medical staff, with the physicians and with the billing staff.

Let's start with the patients.  Your patients believe that when they arrive, they will get to spend an hour or more with your physician discussing how many times they pee every night, what their grandchildren are or are not doing, the latest episode on Nick At Night of Andy Griffith or whatever.  They NEED to be told on the phone when they make the appointment that they will NOT be seeing the doctor during this visit.  They need to be told who they will be seeing and when they arrive, they SHOULD be told to sign a form acknowledging what the AWV is and what it isn't.  The AWV does not require a co-pay, a co-insurance or a deductible, so the patients need to hear that if they demand to see the doctor with a problem during the visit, the patient WILL be required to pay a co-insurance or deductible.

The AWV is not the IPPE!  While I have not started recommending clients offer the IPPE (welcome to Medicare physical) as I still do not believe it compensates the physicians enough for the time they spend (30 to 45 minutes), I do recommend everyone offer the Annual Wellness Visits (AWV) with codes G0438 and G0439.  There are basically six points that the practice needs to make sure they do - plus the HRA (Health Risk Assessment) form that the patient can complete themselves.  I added the HRA form to my site in the past couple of weeks, so feel free to download the questions.   It's also apparent that Medicare pays for the AWV even when it is performed by the clinic nurse and does not necessitate the physician see the patient during the visit.   This isn't a bad idea as it helps the doctor do a better job on the patient as the physician is more informed on the patient's conditions.  

Even though the reimbursement only went up about 8 cents from last year to this year for the AWV as a result of the clinic having to get an HRA completed, it is still profitable.  You can download additional help on the AWV on the FREE DOCUMENTS page on my website or read more in my book on this subject.

Thank you for reading the blog!   if you like it, please let me know by leaving a comment.  I wonder sometimes if people really take the time to read this.

Don