Medscape March 1, 2021
Medicare payments for physician services were, on average, $114,000 per doctor per year higher when billed by a hospital than when billed by an independent physician practice, found a study of Medicare claims data from 2010-2016 in Health Services Research .
According to the study by Brady Post, PhD, Edward C. Norton, PhD, and colleagues, Medicare revenue for outpatient services billed by physician offices would have been 80% higher if they had been billed by a hospital outpatient department (HOPD). The average bundle of Medicare services performed annually by “unintegrated” physicians (ie, those not employed directly or indirectly by a hospital) was worth $141,000 if billed by an office and $240,000 if billed by an HOPD.
The payment differential between...
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