[acb-diabetics] Medicare to quit paying for endo consults

[Patricia LaFrance-Wolf]

Eliminating Endocrinologist Consultations 

Dec 15, 2009 

 

This press release is an announcement submitted by AACE, and was not written
by Diabetes Health.

 

JACKSONVILLE, Fla., Dec. 7 -- A survey just conducted by the American
Association of Clinical 

Endocrinologists

 (AACE) indicates that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
decision to eliminate consultation codes will force four out of five
endocrinologists

to reduce the number of Medicare patients seen in their practices.

 

The CMS decision, which will go into effect in January 2010, will no longer
allow endocrinologists and other specialists to bill for consultations
provided

for patients referred to them by primary care physicians. Written reports
will no longer have to be provided to referring physicians. Endocrinologists

are specialists who assist in the management of patients with complex cases
of diabetes, thyroid disorders and other endocrine-related conditions.

 

"The new CMS Rule threatens to marginalize the critical role clinical
endocrinologists play as consultants--at a time when our nation is facing a
diabetes

epidemic and we are striving to coordinate complex medical care for an
increasing number of our patients," AACE President and Chief of 

Endocrinology

 at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, Dr. Jeffrey R. Garber said. "This
will undermine Congress' effort to improve the quality of care older
Americans

receive and their access to it."

 

In the United States, the conditions in which endocrinologists specialize,
including diabetes, thyroid disease, and osteoporosis, have reached epidemic

proportions. More than 20 million Americans suffer from 

type 2 diabetes

 and approximately 50 million have a condition that precedes it called
pre-diabetes. More than 10 million Americans are known to have thyroid
disorders,

while approximately 40 million Americans have osteoporosis and low bone
mass.

 

As AACE currently seeks to delay the new 

policy

, Dr. Garber is encouraging all specialists and their patients to write
letters to members of Congress and sign the online petition to reverse the
elimination

of these codes at 

www.keepthecodes.com.

 

About the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists (AACE)

 

AACE is a professional medical organization with more than 6,000 members in
the United States and 91 other countries. Founded in 1991, AACE is dedicated

to the optimal care of patients with endocrine problems. AACE initiatives
inform the public about endocrine disorders. AACE also conducts continuing
education

programs for clinical endocrinologists, physicians whose advanced,
specialized training enables them to be experts in the care of endocrine
disease, such

as diabetes, thyroid disorders, growth hormone deficiency, osteoporosis, 

cholesterol

 disorders, hypertension and obesity. For more information about AACE, visit
our Web site at www.aace.com, become a fan on Facebook at 

www.facebook.com/theaace

 or follow us on Twitter at 

www.twitter.com/theaace.

 

* * *

 

SOURCE:

 

American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists 

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