The American Medical Association (AMA) is collaborating with several radiology societies to address the flawed approach in federal payment decisions. The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, utilized by commercial payers as well, relies on outdated cost information from 2006, resulting in reimbursement calculations that do not reflect current financial realities. AMA is working with 173 healthcare organizations on a new Physician Practice Information Survey to update this information and accurately represent the cost of doing business for medical groups. This study aims to communicate accurate financial and operational information to policymakers, including Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). AMA has contracted with research consultancy Mathematica to conduct the survey, with data gathering scheduled through April 2024. The data will be used to calculate the Medicare Economic Index and the Resource Based Relative Value Scale. The survey data will be reported at the aggregate and specialty level without disclosing individual practice-level data to the public. The University of Minnesota is working on a compact system for MRI exams that could potentially be portable. Additionally, a study in JACC: Cardiovascular Imaging suggests that stress imaging strategies may offer more value than FFR-CT for certain scenarios. Some nuclear cardiology labs are still using outdated SPECT systems and may need to consider an upgrade.
Mon, 17 Jul 2023 09:37:57 GMT | Radiology Business