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“Justified Billing Practices Can Improve Revenue for Weight-Focused Visits.”
American Journal of Managed Care
March 2026
CU Anschutz Department of Family Medicine faculty and associated leadership, Jodi Summers Holtrop, PhD, MCHES; Pete Smith, MD; Carlos Rodriguez, PhD; and Mark Gritz, PhD—Director of the Eugene S. Farley , Jr. Health Policy Center, are all co-authors of an American Journal of Managed Care article title, “Justified Billing Practices Can Improve Revenue for Weight-Focused Visits.” Leigh Perreault, MD, Adjoint Professor of Medicine and Epidemiology, is the corresponding author.
This study used PATHWEIGH—a CU Anschutz program, guided largely by researchers within the Department of Family Medicine—to find out whether a new weight management care process, which included billing guidance, changed how primary care providers coded visits and how much revenue those visits produced.
From the article:
“The financial viability of routine weight management in primary care is essential. PATHWEIGH, a novel care process for weight management, was implemented in 56 primary care practices and mitigated weight gain across the practices’ adult patient population with a body mass index greater than or equal to 25. Analysis of procedure codes identified in electronic health records for billing was conducted within this pragmatic trial and sought to assess whether having a care process in place for weight management, which included guidance on billing for weight-focused care, changed coding practices and improved revenue for this care.
Major findings from a pre-/post analysis include the following:
- After implementation of a care process for weight management, primary care procedure coding changed significantly, with increased use of higher-level evaluation and management codes and multiple procedure codes.
- Differences in procedure coding practices resulted in greater revenue from delivering weight-focused care.
- Our findings are highly relevant to primary care practices considering implementing care processes for weight management.”
Read more of this article at the American Journal of Managed Care.
