No abstract

IMPORTANCE Time-based billing options for physicians have expanded, enabling many physicians to bill according to time spent instead of medical decision-making (MDM) level for fee-for-service outpatient visits. However, no study to date has estimated the revenue changes associated with timebased billing. OBJECTIVE To compare evaluation and management (E/M) reimbursement for physicians using time-based billing vs MDM-based billing for outpatient visits of varying lengths. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This economic evaluation used 2019 billing data for outpatient E/M codes and 2021 reimbursement rates from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Modeling of generic clinic templates was performed to estimate expected yearly E/M revenues for a single full-time physician working in an outpatient clinic using fee-for-service billing. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES Yearly E/M revenues for different patient visit templates were modeled. The standardized length of return patient visits was 10 to 45 minutes, and new patient visits were twice as long in duration. RESULTS Under MDM-based billing, increased visit length was associated with decreased E/M revenue