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January 10, 2013


Apply Now for Grants & Fellowships
Applications are being accepted for the Imaging Physics Residency Grant, Research Seed Funding Grant, AAPM/RSNA Fellowship for the Training of a Doctoral Candidate in the Field of Medical Physics, Summer Undergraduate Fellowship Program, and Minority Undergraduate Summer Experience Program (MUSE). Learn more online.


January/February 2013 AAPM Newsletter
The AAPM Newsletter has some exciting new changes beginning with this first issue of 2013! In an effort to increase readership, the Newsletter is now available as a tablet edition for the iPad and will eventually be available for Android devices. The Newsletter will continue to be available on the AAPM website as a FlipBook file with a new look. View the Newsletter.


Free Web Event on Understanding Radiation Therapy Medicare Reimbursement in 2013 (Limited to 197 callers)
Two Webinars will be offered to address 2013 changes to Medicare policies and payments. The first session on January 22nd will cover hospital outpatient reimbursement under the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS). The second session on January 24th will cover payment for physicians and freestanding centers under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). Both sessions will be recorded and available on the AAPM website late January.
Register Here

This Issue

MEETINGS
Radiation Oncology Program Accreditation Meeting: Early Registration Deadline Extended (January 17, 2013); February 8-9, 2013; Dallas, Texas
Hub and Spoke Residency Models Workship: February 15 - 16, 2013; New Orlean, Lousiana
3rd CT Dose Summit: Strategies for CT Scan Parameter Optimization: March 15 - 16, 2013; Phoenix, Arizona
AAPM Spring Clinical Meeting: March 16 - 19, 2013; Phoenix, Arizona
2013 AAPM Summer School: June 16 - 20 , 2013; Colorado Springs, Colorado
2013 AAPM Annual Meeting: August 4 - 8, 2013; Indianapolis, Indiana

WEBSITE UPDATES
IOMP eMPW: December 2012 Issue
Comments Requested AAPM Medical Physics Practice Guideline
News for ABR candidates

AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published a new report regarding prostate radiation across time and geography in newly diagnosed older cancer patients

CONGRESS
Radiation Stakeholders Surprised at Fiscal Cliff Deal Cutting ‘Gamma Knife SRS’ Payments
Health Care in Cross-hairs as Fiscal Talks Resume

JOINT COMMISSION
Joint Commission Online - January 9, 2013

MEDICARE
CMS Announces Candidates for New National Coverage Determinations
Proposed CMS Decision Memo for PET
President Obama Signs the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
 

AGENCY FOR HEALTHCARE RESEARCH AND QUALITY

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) published a new report regarding prostate radiation across time and geography in newly diagnosed older cancer patients
• IMRT has almost completely replaced 3D conformal radiotherapy (CRT) as the form of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) used in prostate cancer treatment.
• Use of IMRT alone or in combination with other therapies continues to increase.
• Higher Medicare reimbursement has provided incentives for IMRT use.
• Use of brachytherapy decreased overall, despite a small increase in the proportion of radiation users using HDR brachytherapy.
• The use of brachytherapy decreased, both in men receiving CRT + brachytherapy and brachytherapy alone. The only brachytherapy use that increased was IMRT + brachytherapy.
• Brachytherapy alone made up 20.8% of radiation use. Rates were higher in young men (66-69 and 70-74 years), non-Hispanic white men and men living in the Midwest. Rates were much lower among men older than 85 years, Hispanic men and men receiving State assistance.
• The shift toward IMRT has not occurred as rapidly in some groups. Older patients, blacks, American Indians and men receiving State assistance continue to receive CRT more frequently than their peers.
• Monitoring IMRT use should be a priority for these other cancers as well as for groups of prostate cancer patients and patients in areas of the country that have been slower to adopt this new technology.

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CONGRESS

Radiation Stakeholders Surprised at Fiscal Cliff Deal Cutting ‘Gamma Knife SRS’ Payments
Key radiation stakeholders were caught off-guard by an unexpected pay cut to a high-cost Cobalt-60 stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) -- known as Gamma Knife - that sources say was quietly tucked into the fiscal cliff deal at the last minute as a way to offset the one-year “physician payment fix” and are urging lawmakers to get CMS to re-examine the payment rates through the regulatory process.

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Health Care in Cross-hairs as Fiscal Talks Resume
The New Year’s Eve clash over "Physician payment fix" offsets will most certainly be dwarked by a major battle expected in the weeks ahead as lawmakers again target health care cuts and dive into entitlement reform in their bid to avert the delayed, but still-looming budget sequester and to raise the debt limit.

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MEDICARE

CMS Announces Candidates for New National Coverage Determinations
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published a list of candidates for new national coverage determinations (NCDs) that includes PSA screening, proton beam therapy, surgery for low-risk prostate cancers and PET for Alzheimer’s disease.

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Proposed CMS Decision Memo for PET
In a major win for the imaging industry, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) stepped back from its broad policy of not covering new positron emission tomography (PET) by proposing to let local Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) decide whether to cover PET that uses radiopharmaceuticals for cancer imaging.

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President Obama Signs the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012
On January 2, 2013, President Obama signed into law the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012. This new law prevents a scheduled payment cut for physicians and other practitioners who treat Medicare patients from taking effect on January 1, 2013. This provision guarantees seniors have continued access to their doctors by fixing the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) through the end of 2013. President Obama remains committed to a permanent solution to eliminating the SGR reductions that result from the existing statutory methodology. The Administration will continue to work with Congress to achieve this goal.

The new law provides for a zero percent update for claims with dates of service on or after January 1, 2013 through December 31, 2013. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is currently revising the 2013 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) to reflect the new law’s requirements as well as technical corrections identified since publication of the final rule in November. CMS reports that the 2013 conversion factor is $34.0230.

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