A newly available CME webinar details how to receive payment for screening patients for nonmedical drivers of health, the constellation of conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect health outcomes and risks.
The 37-minute, on-demand webinar was developed by TMA in conjunction with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). It helps educate physicians on how to seek compensation for their work as they screen patients for factors outside of the exam room that impact care or adherence to treatment regimens, such as food insecurity, housing instability, or a lack of transportation.
As a result of medicine’s advocacy, CMS in 2023 added the screening measure, as proposed by The Physicians Foundation and supported by TMA.
“Understanding these nonmedical [drivers] gives us a better understanding of what our patients are needing, what are they going through,” said Ajay Gupta, MD, immediate past chair of TMA’s Council on Health Care Quality.
“We want to make sure that these resources that [physicians] allocate to identify these [nonmedical drivers] are getting recognized and reimbursed,” the Austin family medicine doctor said. “Too many times [physicians] get asked to do more and more, but we don’t necessarily get properly reimbursed for it. But there is some guidance [in the CME] on how to get properly reimbursed for [screening for nonmedical drivers of health].”
For instance, the course details the appropriate Z codes for documentation physicians must submit. The codes encompass multiple degrees of patient housing instability, including homelessness and inadequate housing, enabling physicians to capture specific data.
Furthermore, the webinar emphasizes the importance of customizing the delivery form of screenings, versus a one-size-fits-all sort of implementation.
“Some practices may do this [with a] handout sheet in the waiting room, some may do it in the [exam] room, some may do it post-visit. But it needs to work best for that practice,” Dr. Gupta said.
The insight and data that screening for such factors yields also can be put to work developing initiatives to reduce overall health care costs, he adds.
This CME course provides .75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™ and .75 American Board of Internal Medicine credits in medical ethics and/or professional responsibility after successful completion of a 10-question quiz included at the end of the presentation.
Find more on-demand CME offerings free to TMA members, compliments of TMA Insurance Trust.
Jessica Ridge
Reporter, Division of Communications and Marketing
(512) 370-1395