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| May 3, 2012 | |
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Fund AAPM Website UpdatesASTRO requests public comment on Assuring Safety and Quality in Image-guided Delivery of Radiation Therapy The NIH and NSF have identified Big Data as a program focus. Full details on the programmatic goals and application process are described here Awards & Honors Committee - Call for Nominations
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CodingICD-10 Compliance May Be Postponed By 12 MonthsThe Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced a proposed rule that would extend the compliance for adopting ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes until October 1, 2014, a full year beyond the current deadline. ICD-10 was developed as an improvement to ICD-9, and allows for a more specific and accurate representation of current and future medical procedures and diagnoses than is possible with the 30-year old ICD-9 system. Use of ICD-10 codes will provide more accurate and discrete data for health care billing, quality assurance, public health reporting, and health services research and will modernize and expand the capacity to keep pace with changes in medical practice and health care delivery. The proposed ICD-10 rule was developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to establish standards for electronic health care transactions under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996. It will affect coding for every facility and healthcare professional covered by HIPAA. LegislationSenate bill would halt muitiple-scan payment cutsU.S. Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and David Vitter (R-LA) introduced legislation on April 25 that would halt a cut in Medicare reimbursement for multiple imaging studies performed on the same patient on the same day. The Diagnostic Imaging Services Access Protection Act (S 2347) is supported by the American College of Radiology (ACR). The legislation would stop the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) from implementing a 25% reduction to the professional component of diagnostic imaging services involving multiple imaging studies performed on the same patient on the same day in the same practice setting. The bill would prevent any reductions until an expert panel convened by the Institute Medicine< conducts a study of professional-component efficiencies. The companion bill to S 2347 in the House of Representatives is HR 3269, introduced by Representatives Pete Olson (R-TX) and Betty McCollum (D-MN), along with 234 co-sponsors. MedicareCMS Releases FY 2012 Hospital Inpatient Proposed RuleThe Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a proposed rule that would update annual Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient stays to general acute care hospitals paid under the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (HIPPS). This proposed rule is a continuation of the CMS efforts to promote improvements in hospital care that will lead to better patient outcomes while slowing the long-term health care cost growth. CMS estimates that the proposed rule will increase FY 2013 HIPPS payment rates for hospitals that successfully participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program by 2.3 percent. This rate increase, together with other policies in the proposed rule and projected utilization of inpatient services, would increase Medicare’s operating payments to acute care hospitals by approximately $904 million, or 0.9 percent in FY 2013. Public comments on the proposed regulation must be submitted to CMS by June 25, 2012. Medicare 2nd Correction Notice Results in Increased Hospital Outpatient & ASC Payments for 2012The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published on April 24, 2012 a Correction Notice that increased all 2012 Medicare radiation oncology payments to hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers (ASC). In the second Correction Notice of 2012, CMS reports that they discovered that the revenue code-to-cost center crosswalk contained incorrect mappings for several revenue codes. The combined corrections to the line item trim (1/4/2012 Correction Notice-1) and revenue code-to-cost center crosswalk (4/24/12 Correction Notice-2) affected the calculation of the APC median costs and the 2012 payment rates. This correction resulted in slight payment increases to all radiation oncology procedure and brachytherapy source payments in the hospital outpatient setting of approximately 0.1%. The same correction also impacted payments for surgical procedures and ancillary services provided in ambulatory surgical centers. More significant payment increases were realized by surgical procedures and ancillary services that have their ASC payment based on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Updated 2012 payments are available on the AAPM website |
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