CMS Seeks Feedback on Breast Cancer Screening Cost Measure

CMS and its partner, Acumen, are testing a new Breast Cancer Screening cost measure to evaluate how Medicare spending is assigned to clinicians who provide screening mammography.

Radiology groups with at least 10 screening episodes in 2024 will receive a Field Test Report through the Quality Payment Program (QPP) Portal. The report shows how CMS calculates and assigns screening costs to your practice. It is important to note that this report is for testing purposes only – it is not a performance score and will not impact payment.

Your feedback is essential because this measure would directly affect breast imagers participating in CMS’s quality payment program, the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), which is immediately linked to Medicare Part B reimbursements.

Radiologists are in the best position to assess whether this measure reflects real‑world screening practice, assigns costs fairly, and avoids holding radiologists responsible for services they do not control. If CMS does not receive feedback raising concerns, it will assume the measure is acceptable as written. Participation in this testing is a key opportunity to identify issues with how screening episodes are defined or how costs are attributed.

Even groups that do not receive a Field Test Report can provide input. Anyone may submit feedback through the online survey, which is open until Feb. 27.

CMS provided several resources to support field testing. Groups can access their Field Test Report through the QPP Portal if they meet the screening threshold. CMS has also released the Breast Cancer Screening Measure specifications and code list, which explain how screening episodes are defined and which billing codes are included.

ACR^® encourages radiology groups to share redacted copies of their field test reports to help inform advocacy efforts. These reports allow ACR to better understand how the measure may affect practices and raise concerns with CMS as needed. CMS created a user guide for more information about accessing these reports. Redacted reports can be sent to ACR’s Quality and Safety staff at P4PQuestions@acr.org.

For questions about the cost measure field testing process, contact Samantha Shugarman, MS, ACR Director of Quality Programs.