Chronic Care Management Code Use Increases, but Uptake Still Lagging

The use of Medicare’s chronic care management codes increased from 2015 to 2018, but newer codes were used less frequently and 5% of claims with the codes were denied. Providers are increasingly using chronic care management (CCM) codes to address care fragmentation issues for patients with multiple chronic conditions. However, utilization patterns among providers could indicate some unaddressed challenges, according to a new study.

The study recently published in the American Academy of Family Physicians examined publicly available Medicare data from 2015 to 2018. The data captured all CCM claims submitted to Medicare by physicians during the four-year period. Both service counts and corresponding Medicare payments for CCM rose between 2015 and 2018, the study found.