3/3/2006 - ACR Economics Commission Chair and Vice Chair Testify Before Medicare APC Advisory Council
John A. Patti, MD, FACR, chair, and Bibb Allen, MD, FACR, vice-chair of the ACR Commission on Economics, asked the Medicare Ambulatory Payment Categories (APC) Advisory Panel on March 2 to continue to delay implementation of the multiple contiguous procedure discount rule, examine relativity of reimbursement for CT and CT angiography, and work to refine the reporting and analysis of hospital cost data in an effort to create more precision, uniformity, and accuracy in the determination of APC payment levels.
The ACR's testimony before the panel at the national Medicare office in Baltimore focused on problems with the hospital outpatient payment levels for several radiology procedures, given the heightened importance of APC payment levels created by the passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005.
"The ACR urges the Panel to advise CMS to improve the clinical and resource homogeneity of ambulatory payment classifications by refining the process of data reporting and analysis, with emphasis on: improving systematic consistency; improving cost data reporting; improving accuracy; increasing relativity; and increasing granularity."
In regards to the previously delayed CMS proposal to cut hospital outpatient reimbursement for imaging exams on contiguous body parts in the same session by 50% in 2006, Dr Patti stated, "The ACR would like the Panel to reaffirm its recommendation that CMS not implement the multiple procedure discount rule for imaging services until it has determined that these economies are not already captured by the hospital in their cost data and that this apply wherever the APC system is used."
Following their testimony, Dr. Patti and Dr. Allen were both very optimistic that the APC Advisory Panel would respond favorably to ACR's requests.
