Physicians Are Being Paid Less By Insurance Companies (Report)

Baltimore, Maryland — January 03, 2007 — Physicians are being paid less than ever by health insurance companies to provide patient care, according to the sixth annual fee schedule survey conducted with doctors nationwide by Physicians Practice ®, America's Leading Practice Management Journal.

"This is the worse-looking data we've ever seen," says Pamela L. Moore, PhD, senior editor of practice management for Physicians Practice. "In 2005, we could hardly believe how dramatic the cutbacks were. But payers were generous in 2005 when compared with their behavior in 2006."

In 2006, Physicians Practice asked doctors across the country to reveal how much insurance companies reimburse them for healthcare provided to insured patients. The "terrible" results will be published in the January 2007 issue. Of the findings:

Reporter Resources
	Listen to our free online presentation Your Payers, Ranked to get hard data on how insurers performed when paying physicians in 2006.
	Congress recently halted the 5.1 percent Medicare payment cuts scheduled for 2007. To find out why physicians have reason to celebrate, e-mail labernathy@med-iq.com or call 443 543 5144.

• Reimbursements from insurance companies that pay the doctors bills of patients for Evaluation and Management (E&M) codes dropped 10 percent nationally and 27 percent in the Northeast from 2005 to 2006. Most physicians use the E&M coding system to report their services and get reimbursed from payers according to the needs of patients.
  
  
• Nationally, Medicare is now a better payer than insurance companies. "Better think twice about cutting back on those Medicare patients. They may be your best bet for decent pay," says Moore.
  
  
• Consolidation among insurance companies has created monopoly-like conditions, allowing insurers to pay physicians less.
  
  
• Physicians need to get smarter about negotiating their contracts with insurers, and look for other revenue sources.
  
  

There are still some measures physicians can take to limit the damage to their practices. Read the January 2007 issue at www.PhysiciansPractice.com to find out how much doctors across the country told Physicians Practice they're getting paid to provide the same services, and for advice on how physicians can "fight the power." Physicians Practice will continue to publish articles throughout the year with advice on how to best deal with payers, including PayerView -– the second annual insurance company report card developed with athenahealth, Inc., ranking insurers on how easy they are for physicians to work with -– coming in the June 2007 issue.

For More Information, Contact:
LaWanda Stone Abernathy
Senior Manager, Corporate Communications
443 543 5144
labernathy@med-iq.com

Catherine Bretz Mullaney, MHA
Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Development
443 543 5154
cbretz@med-iq.com