Recently the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released updated guidance (PDF) that dramatically increased the Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) Process administrative fee from $50 to $350 for 2023, reversing an earlier decision to maintain the same fee. CMS states that the fee increase is needed to cover the costs associated with reducing the backlog of IDR claims that has continued to grow since announcing in Oct. that the fee would not increase. It is important to note that the administrative fee is paid by both parties and is nonrefundable, making this increase a significant barrier to the IDR process for many physician practices. The department also increased the maximum IDR Entity fees from $500 to $700 for individual claims (a 40% increase) and from $670 to as much as $1,219 for batched claims, an 82% increase.