ACR Executive Director Testifies on Pay for Performance Before IOM Panel
ACR Executive Director Harvey L. Neiman, MD, spelled out the ACR's support for pay-for-performance efforts and emphasized that many of the ACR's existing quality initiatives could be used to design such a program during September 1 testimony before the Institute of Medicine's Pay-for-Performance Subcommittee.
"The ACR supports Congress and the Administration in exploring a policy to reduce Medicare expenditures by linking pay for performance and quality standards to Medicare reimbursement," Neiman told the panel. "The College believes that our well-established quality initiatives and ongoing development of numerous efforts in this regard could eventually translate into a template for pay-for-performance policies that Congress and the Administration may want to pursue."
Specifically, Neiman cited ACR initiatives such as:
- Accreditation programs
- ACR Appropriateness CriteriaTM
- ACR Practice Guidelines and Technical Standards
- RADPEERTM
"There are numerous private payers that recognize and mandate the quality and safety programs that the ACR offers," Neiman added. "Additionally, the ACR is particularly proud of its National Cancer Institute-funded clinical cooperative trials group that has been established to evaluate optimal imaging strategies and techniques in the diagnosis of cancer."
To read the complete transcript of Neiman's testimony, go to www.acr.org and go to ACR News.