Fed Regist. 2007 Nov 27;72(227):66221-578.
This final rule with comment period addresses certain provisions of the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, as well as making other proposed changes to Medicare Part B payment policy. We are making these changes to ensure that our payment systems are updated to reflect changes in medical practice and the relative value of services. This final rule with comment period also discusses refinements to resource-based practice expense (PE) relative value units (RVUs); geographic practice cost indices (GPCI) changes; malpractice RVUs; requests for additions to the list of telehealth services; several coding issues including additional codes from the 5-Year Review; payment for covered outpatient drugs and biologicals; the competitive acquisition program (CAP); clinical lab fee schedule issues; payment for renal dialysis services; performance standards for independent diagnostic testing facilities; expiration of the physician scarcity area (PSA) bonus payment; conforming and clarifying changes for comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities (CORFs); a process for updating the drug compendia; physician self referral issues; beneficiary signature for ambulance transport services; durable medical equipment (DME) update; the chiropractic services demonstration; a Medicare economic index (MEI) data change; technical corrections; standards and requirements related to therapy services under Medicare Parts A and B; revisions to the ambulance fee schedule; the ambulance inflation factor for CY 2008; and amending the e-prescribing exemption for computer-generated facsimile transmissions. We are also finalizing the calendar year (CY) 2007 interim RVUs and are issuing interim RVUs for new and revised procedure codes for CY 2008. As required by the statute, we are announcing that the physician fee schedule update for CY 2008 is -10.1 percent, the initial estimate for the sustainable growth rate for CY 2008 is -0.1 percent, and the conversion factor (CF) for CY 2008 is $34.0682.
本带有意见征求期的最终规则涉及2006年《税收减免与医疗保健法案》的某些条款，并对医疗保险B部分支付政策提出其他拟议变更。我们做出这些变更是为了确保我们的支付系统得到更新，以反映医疗实践的变化和服务的相对价值。本带有意见征求期的最终规则还讨论了对基于资源的执业费用（PE）相对价值单位（RVU）的细化；地理执业成本指数（GPCI）的变化；医疗事故RVU；远程医疗服务清单增补申请；若干编码问题，包括来自五年审查的新增编码；涵盖的门诊药品和生物制品的支付；竞争性采购计划（CAP）；临床实验室收费表问题；肾透析服务的支付；独立诊断测试设施的绩效标准；医生短缺地区（PSA）奖金支付的到期；综合门诊康复设施（CORF）的一致性和澄清性变更；更新药品汇编的流程；医生自我转诊问题；救护车运输服务的受益人签名；耐用医疗设备（DME）更新；脊椎按摩服务示范；医疗保险经济指数（MEI）数据变更；技术修正；与医疗保险A部分和B部分下的治疗服务相关的标准和要求；救护车收费表的修订；2008财年的救护车通胀系数；以及修订计算机生成的传真传输的电子处方豁免。我们还确定了2007日历年（CY）的临时RVU，并发布了2008年新的和修订的程序编码的临时RVU。根据法规要求，我们宣布2008年日历年的医生收费表更新幅度为-10.1%，2008年可持续增长率的初步估计为-0.1%，2008年的换算因子（CF）为34.0682美元。
