A Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Analysis of Reimbursement Trends in Laryngology from 2000 to 2021

Objective: The purpose of this study is to characterize Medicare reimbursement trends for laryngology procedures over the last two decades.Methods: This analysis used CMS' Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Look-Up Tool to determine the reimbursement rate of 48 common laryngology procedures, which were divided into four groups based on their practice setting and clinical use: office-based, airway, voice disorders, and dysphagia. The PFS reports the physician service reimbursement for facilities and global reimbursement for non-facilities. The annual reimbursement rate for each procedure was averaged across all localities and adjusted for inflation. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of each procedure's reimbursement was determined, and a weighted average of the CAGR for each group of procedures was calculated using each procedure's 2020 Medicare Part B utilization.Results: Reimbursement for laryngology procedure (CPT) codes has declined over the last two decades. In facilities, the weighted average CAGR for office-based procedures was -2.0%, for airway procedures was -2.2%, for voice disorders procedures was -1.4%, and for dysphagia procedures was -1.7%. In non-facilities, the weighted average CAGR for office-based procedures was -0.9%. The procedures in the other procedure groups did not have a corresponding non-facility reimbursement rate.Conclusion: Like other otolaryngology subspecialties, inflation-adjusted reimbursements for common laryngology procedures have decreased substantially over the past two decades. Because of the large number of physician participants and patient enrollees in the Medicare programs, increased awareness and further research into the implications of these trends on patient care is necessary to ensure quality in the delivery of laryngology care.

Automated summary

The objective of this study is to examine the reimbursement trends for laryngology procedures under Medicare over the past two decades. The analysis utilized CMS' Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool to determine the reimbursement rates for 48 common laryngology procedures, which were categorized based on their practice setting and clinical use. The study found a decline in reimbursement rates for laryngology procedures over the past twenty years.