Providers may soon see an end to the evaluation and management guidelines if the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform has its way - E&M - In Brief - Brief Article

Healthcare Financial Management, August, 2002

Providers may soon see an end to the evaluation and management (E&M) guidelines if the HHS Secretary's Advisory Committee on Regulatory Reform has its way. At its May 15, 2002, meeting, the committee voted 20 to 1 to eliminate the guidelines. Douglas Wood, MD, chair of the regulatory reform panel, said that the committee believed that the documentation guidelines had not achieved their goals and instead created unneeded administrative burdens and complexity for physician practices. "The guidelines emphasize a physician's clerical talent and not their ability to make appropriate medical decisions about what is best for the patient," said Wood. HHS now is investigating whether it has the authority to adopt the committee's proposal. To read the committee's recommendations, go to http://www.regreform.hhs.gov/recommendations.htm. To read a transcript of the May 15, 2002, meeting, go to http://www.regreform.hhs.gov/sacrr5_15.htm.>