Medicare Bill May Reduce Imaging Overuse

People who are concerned about medical news probably all know by now that this week was an important week for physicians. A Medicare bill that postpones a ten percent pay cut for physicians for the next eighteen months finally passed after a long process of debate that had it stalled for some time. Although the pay issue is the issue that is of most concern to the people who paid attention to the bill, there was also an important change made to medical imaging which was included in this bill.

"Also part of the legislation is a mandate that providers of advanced diagnostic imaging services such as MR, CT, PET, and nuclear medicine be accredited by 2012 to be reimbursed by Medicare for the technical component of these exams. It also establishes a two-year voluntary demonstration program for appropriateness criteria for the use of medical imaging, following guidelines developed by the ACR and the American College of Cardiology (ACC) of Washington, DC." (source)

There are some people who would argue that this is a negative thing because it means that it will make it more difficult for some medical imaging to take place and to be paid for. However, the bill is actually more likely to be a positive thing because it will mean that the medical imaging which does take place will be that which is warranted and that it will be done by people who are highly accredited to perform these procedures. Question of the Day: How will the Medicare Bill just passed by Senate impact the world of medical imaging? photo link