The Perceived Impact of the New Medicare Rules for Split/Shared Visits: A Survey of Advanced Practice Administrators

Background The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently updated its split/shared policy but delayed enforcing sole time-based billing methodology in 2023 after industry pushback. However, the new time-based requirement is set for 2024. Yet, there is no published literature addressing perceived organizational impacts associated with new split/shared rules. Methods A cross-sectional survey study was administered via electronic email Listserv (n = 108) over a two-and-a-half-week period in 2023. The survey was conducted to examine the potential organizational impact of complying with the new Medicare split/shared visit policy. The collected survey data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results Despite the small sample size, this novel research study seems to suggest that there is a range of perceived issues associated with the new split/shared rules, including a perceived decrease in physician compensation due to changes in work relative value unit (wRVU) attribution and potential conflict between physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs) as they compete for wRVU credit for inpatient services. Additionally, respondents felt that the new regulatory change would lead to layoffs and/or hiring freezes of inpatient APP positions, thereby impacting team-based care dynamics. Further work is needed to better understand the impact of the new split/shared rules on coding practices, revenue, efficiency, provider, and patient satisfaction. Conclusion The findings reported in this study shed new light on the perceived impacts of the new split/shared visit rules on healthcare institutions. Although the updated rules are designed to provide greater transparency and better align reimbursement with services performed, concerns persist around the potential impact on day-to-day workflows, physician compensation, net revenue, and potential economic impact on the traditional team-based care model.