ACR Preliminary Summary of Radiology Provisions in the 2017 MPFS Final Rule

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule on November 2, 2016. Upon initial review, the American College of Radiology (ACR) is pleased with several provisions within the rule. CMS has recognized the value provided by radiologists in providing mammography services through an increase in the physician work relative value units (RVUs) for diagnostic mammography and maintaining the current value for screening mammography. Additionally, ACR physicians and staff held numerous conference calls and meetings with CMS on the topic of appropriate use criteria (AUC)/clinical decision support (CDS) and are pleased that CMS has provided clarification on the implementation timeline for this important program. Conversion Factor and CMS Overall Impact Estimates CMS estimates a CY 2017 conversion factor of $35.8887, which reflects the 0.5 percent update specified by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, a positive budget neutrality adjustment, an adjustment due to the non-budget neutral 5 percent multiple procedure payment reduction for the professional component of imaging services, and a -0.18 percent target recapture amount due to a shortfall in the misvalued services target required by the Achieving a Better Life Experience Act of 2014. Overall, this is a slight increase from the current conversion factor of $35.8043. CMS notes that the final conversion factor is higher than proposed because the proposed ...
Source: American College of Radiology - Category: Radiology Source Type: news