ACR Urges CMS to Change Proposed Rule for the 2008 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System


The ACR recently submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the proposed rule for the 2008 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS).

CMS is proposing to package many radiology and radiation oncology services, diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals, and drugs into procedural codes, thereby allowing one consolidated payment for a service that commonly involves several coding components. In general, the ACR opposes the packaging of any drugs along with imaging-related and radiation oncology services.

We provided a more detailed assessment of the implications of the proposed packaging in our comment letter with specific comments on the ancillary services of concern to the ACR and its members.

The ACR presented positions on the following issues:

  • The complex proposal by CMS to package payment for seven categories of supportive ancillary services. Of these seven categories, there are five of critical importance to radiology: imaging guidance services, image processing services, imaging supervision and interpretation services, diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals and contrast media, and radiation oncology services.

  • Low dose brachytherapy (LDR)

  • Cardiac computed tomography (CT) and coronary computed tomographic angiography (CTA)

  • The implications of the proposed rule with respect to the caps on imaging payments imposed by the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA)

CMS will address comments received on the proposed rule in the 2008 HOPPS Final Rule, which will be published in November 2007.

Click here to read the ACR comment letter to CMS.