The 2012 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, which was published in the Federal Register on November 28, 2011, includes several relevant updates for clinical laboratories. As the rule is many pages long, below are a few highlights regarding the provisions that impact clinical laboratories:  

• The final rule officially confirmed that CMS will not require a physician's signature on a requisitions for clinical diagnostic laboratory tests paid for under the clinical laboratory fee schedule; and     
   
• The rule formally announced the payment updates for the clinical laboratory fee schedule effective January 2012:    

The fee schedule will be increased by 0.7 percent, calculated with CPI at 3.6 percent for 2011, minus 1.2 percent for the productivity adjustment, minus another 1.75 percent as mandated by the Affordable Care Act, which equals positive 0.65 percent, which is then rounded to positive 0.7 percent.