Navigating the New Medicare Guidelines for Physician Salaries w/Ann Bittinger

On January 1st, new Medicare guidelines for physician earnings were introduced, and this is set to impact our contracts in a multitude of ways. Many physicians are going to see either a significant increase in their earnings or a substantial drop. 

Because of potential impact on revenue many hospital systems are either unilaterally staying or requiring addendums to stay on the 2020 rvu values for compensation.

Whatever your situation is, don’t panic until you have the data. It’s important to get into the fine print of your contract to know what your next move should be. 

What are the contractual ramifications of these new guidelines and what legal actions can we take as physicians? 

In this episode, I’m joined by Health Law Attorney and Healthcare Advisor, Ann Bittinger. She shares how to deal with the new RVU physician schedules and codes, and make sure you’re still getting paid what you’re worth.

Three Things You’ll Learn In This Episode 

• What the new changes to RVU codes and schedules mean for physicians 
  Without your contract changing in any way, your salary may go up or down based on what RVU codes you bill. This could be really good for some physicians if the 2021 fee schedule is applied to them. If that’s the case, you have to be really skeptical about signing an amendment because you could make a whole lot more if you don’t change your contract. 

• How to deal with your employer threatening to withhold pay
  Withholding your salary is definitely in breach of contract and state labor laws. In some cases, breaching a contract also voids your non-compete clause. You have to look at the entire contract and see what kind of leverage you have. 

• How to gather data to empower you in negotiations 
  Look at the whole of your contract to see what you have that’s advantageous. Some of the areas where you can have leverage are whether your physician contract has fair market mandates, what the amendment section says, and possible termination provisions.

Guest Bio 

Ann M. Bittinger is Health Law Attorney and an Advisor to Healthcare Executives, Entrepreneurs, and Physicians. Ann specializes in advising healthcare entities in their business transactions. Her particular expertise is in legal relationships between hospital systems and physicians or physician groups, such as co-management agreements, joint ventures, clinical integration arrangements, practice acquisitions, and employment agreements.

Ann’s clients include all types of entities and individuals in the healthcare industry: health systems, physician groups, physicians, a physician-hospital organization, laboratories, pharmacies, distributors, and other practitioners. Board-certified by The Florida Bar in health law in 2005, she is in particular demand from companies located outside Florida that are expanding their businesses into Florida. She has serviced client companies headquartered in Dallas, Nashville, Boston, New York City, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and London, U.K.

For more information, visit http://www.bittingerlaw.com.