So this post is more of a discussion post, rather than posing a question. However, in case you missed it, CMS held a special E/M listening session where stakeholders and other folks from the community were invited to call in and comment on a number of questions. The intention was to learn from stakeholders and the community which direction they would like the E/M guidelines to change. CMS does acknowledge that the current 1995/1997 E/M guidelines are cumbersome and would like to update them, hence the Listening session held March 21st of this year. CMS did also mention that this process might be multi-year, however some people are hopeful that some updates might even start next year (2019).

Since I deal with E/M audits on a daily basis, I am seriously excited about this upcoming change. I wholeheartedly agree that the current E/M guidelines are in a need of an overhaul. I am very interested to see which direction CMS will end up taking with the comments during the Listening session. The reason for this post is not just to notify the AAPC forum, but also to pick other coders’ brain on this upcoming change.

Here is the transcript link from the session:

E/M Services: Documentation Guidelines and Burden Reduction Listening Session