HAP Radiology Billing and Coding Blog

Just as you were done revising your practice systems and processes for Meaningful Use and MACRA/MIPS, a new Medicare mandate came along.  One of the biggest challenges for radiology practices right now is to be able to comply with the requirement that ordering physicians use a Clinical Decision Support Mechanism (CDSM) to consult Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) when ordering MR, CT, PET and other specified nuclear medicine exams.  This rule has been on the books since 2014, but it will begin to be implemented in 2020 followed by the imposition of penalties in 2021.  This is not a voluntary bonus like Meaningful Use, or the avoidance of a small fee reduction under MIPS, but rather it means there will be NO payment to the radiologist for procedures performed without using the appropriate process.  

It’s natural to want to compare one’s performance against others or to some standard.  Radiologists often chat among themselves about the number of exams per year they read or maybe the number of RVU’s (Relative Value Units) they generate.  While there are inherent problems with some of these comparisons as we outlined in our recent article Understanding the Value of RVUs in Radiology, measuring and monitoring productivity can be beneficial to a radiology practice and to the individual radiologist. 

There was a time when word-of-mouth from friends and family was enough to inform our decisions, but today advice from the internet has taken precedence over recommendations from those we know personally – and this is especially true in healthcare. Patients are turning to the internet to research physicians, practices, and procedures before they even call the office to make an appointment. Individuals seeking care are more likely to choose physicians with high ratings and positive reviews over physicians with a less-than-stellar online presence.  Physicians need to be serious about their online reputation and take the necessary steps to ensure it is positive.

Interventional radiologists are often called to perform peripherally inserted central venous catheter (PICC) prodecures.  Recent coding and policy changes bundle all imaging guidance and the confirmation of final placement into a single CPT^® code.  Let’s review the financial implications of those changes.

Medicare’s requirement that ordering physicians begin to use clinical decision support mechanisms (CDSM) when ordering certain advanced imaging examinations will take effect next year, and most radiology practices are gearing up to be ready.  Any CDSM will require a set of rules, or Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC), that will guide the decision-making process. 

Earlier in March, we got the chance to sit down with Ted Burnes, Director of RADPAC (Radiology Political Action Committee) and Political Education at the American College of Radiology (ACR).  Mr. Burnes is a native of the Philadelphia region and is a regular speaker at national Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) and other radiology society meetings. His knowledge and passion for legislative updates and how they relate to the practice of radiology is a great resource that we are excited to share with our extensive readership.

The year 2019 marks the third reporting period under the Medicare Incentive-based Payment System (MIPS).  Radiology groups’ performance this year will determine their positive or negative Medicare fee schedule adjustment for payments in 2021, just as this year’s Medicare payment adjustment was determined by performance in 2017.

You should evaluate your practice’s revenue cycle management method at least annually, whether you have an outsourced RCM vendor or if your billing and collection is done in-house.

Our review of the proposed 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) showed that 201 Professional Component (PC) codes and 213 Global codes were to be decreased by at least 1% in the Diagnostic Radiology 70000-series of CPT codes.  In the final MPFS, only 46 PC codes were reduced by 1% or more, but 280 global codes were reduced by at least 1%.  The number of codes expected to increase in payment did not change as dramatically, but in both PC and Global billing fewer codes were increased than we expected.  Here are the details:

A recent study aimed at calculating follow-up recommendations in radiology reports and comparing the efficacy of various methods to identify patients in need of follow-up suggests the usefulness of technologies that can take action on those recommendations.  The study that was conducted by Dr. Emmanuel Carrodeguas and his colleagues, published on December 29, 2018 in the Journal of the American College of Radiology and reported by AuntMinnie.com, concludes in part that “Automatic identification of follow-up recommendations could have wide implications for establishing and timely performance of collaboratively developed follow-up care plans for actionable findings in radiology reports to improve quality and experience of care for patients.”