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| March 22, 2012 | |
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New in this IssueAAPM Position Statement on Use of Bismuth Shielding for the Purpose of Dose Reduction in CT Scanning AAPM reportscongressMedPAC Report to the Congress March 2012 International atomic emergy agency (IAEA)The RPOP website has been updated funding opportunities
Medical ImagingMedPAC verifies drop in imaging spending, utilization Medicare |
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Fund Meetings CalendarChapter Meetings: March 2012 - May 2012
AAPM Website Updates
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Career Services & Committee Classifieds
AAPM Committee Classifieds as of March 22, 2012
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CongressMedPAC Report to the Congress March 2012The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is required to annually review Medicare payment policies and make recommendations to the Congress... [see full article] International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)The RPOP website has been updated as:
Medical ImagingMedPAC verifies drop in imaging spending, utilizationThe Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (PedPAC) acknowledged the recent downward trend in Medicare spending and utilization on medical imaging procedures in its annual March Report to Congress, a move applauded by the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance (MITA)... [see full article] MedicareMedicare Corrections Result in Updated Payments for 2012The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published Correction Notices that impacted 2012 Medicare payments to physicians, freestanding centers, hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgical centers. Changes to Medicare Physician Fee Schedule: The Correction Notice included minor revisions to a few radiation oncology procedure codes. Specifically the technical components of CPT codes 77402, 77615, 77776 and 77787 decreased by 0.01 relative value unit (RVU) resulting in a slight change to the 2012 payment. The current conversion factor of $34.0376 will remain in place through the end of the year due to the recently passed legislation. Updated 2012 RVUs and payment rates are available on the AAPM website (see below for web address). Changes to Hospital Outpatient Services and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payments:In the Correction Notice CMS reports that they discovered that the trim of unpaid lines was not applied correctly. CMS corrected the programming logic in the data process to apply the line item trim correctly and recalculated the median costs for each separately paid service using the claims that result from the correctly applied trim. This correction resulted in slight payment increases or decreases to all radiation oncology procedure APCs and slight decreases to all brachytherapy source APC payments. The same correction also impacted payments for surgical procedures and ancillary services provided in ambulatory surgical centers. Updated 2012 payments are available on the AAPM website |
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