HAP Radiology Billing and Coding Blog

The Medicare reimbursement rates for 2025 remain unchanged as a result of the Continuing Resolution (CR) passed by Congress and signed on March 15. Thus, the downward spiral of Medicare reimbursement continues with physicians receiving nominally 2.83% less this year than in 2024. Radiology practices will see somewhat different results depending on their practice pattern, as we reported in our recent article analyzing the real impact of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). We calculate that the Professional Component reimbursement would decrease 2.16%, while global reimbursement at an imaging center would decrease by 3.55%, both on a weighted-average basis.

The 2025 conversion factor (CF) that sets the overall rate for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) was adjusted downward by 2.83% from the 2024 rate, to $32.3465 per Relative Value Unit (RVU) vs. $33.2875 per RVU. Several bills are pending in Congress that would mitigate the scheduled reduction, at least on a temporary basis, or perhaps to make more permanent corrections to the Medicare pricing formula. However, as of this writing none are in active discussion.

Radiology practices often participate in the Quality Payment Program (QPP) through the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Many aspects of the MIPS rules remain unchanged for 2025, including:

Complete documentation of any radiology procedure is the key to appropriate reimbursement. This is especially true for venous duplex Doppler ultrasound exams, where including fewer than the required number of elements for a complete procedure will result in reimbursement for a limited study.

In response to concern expressed across the spectrum of physicians and their representative organizations, the omnibus spending bill titled the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2023 (CAA23) passed by Congress on December 23 rolled back a Medicare payment cut of 8.5%.  As a result, we estimate that the conversion factor will still be cut 2.08% for 2023. However, as we reported previously, many practices will feel a larger reimbursement reduction due to the annual valuation adjustments within the fee schedule.

The opportunities for non-physician providers (NPP) in radiology practices continue to expand. Recently the American College of Radiology (ACR) revised its CT and MRI facility accreditation criteria to allow NPPs to be able to directly supervise contrast administration. This mirrors the revised practice parameter for supervision of contrast administration that was previously adopted by the ACR. Note, however, that state licensure laws are the final authority that determine which services may be provided by NPPs.

Beginning in 2023, physicians will have the option to report under the Medicare Quality Payment Program (QPP) using MIPS Value Pathways (MVP) in lieu of the traditional reporting methods. MIPS, the Medicare Incentive-based Payment System, started gathering performance reports in 2017 and in 2019 the first Medicare payment adjustments were made based on that 2017 reporting. Eventually traditional MIPS reporting will be phased out, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has not proposed a timeline for doing so.

The calculation of reimbursement under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) is made up of three components, each of which can be adjusted during the annual rulemaking process. The one most discussed is the Conversion Factor (CF), which is the dollar amount applied to the table of Relative Value Units (RVU) to arrive at the reimbursement rate for each procedure; this is known as the National Medicare Fee. However, there is another factor, the Geographic Practice Cost Index (GPCI), that is applied individually to each payment locality across the country. This resulting fee is what is paid to the practice based on the location where the services are performed. The 2023 MPFS Proposed Rule proposes changes to all three components.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) press release announcing the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Proposed Rule for 2023 highlights expanded access to behavioral health services, Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), cancer screening, and dental care. Of these areas, cancer screening could be important to radiology practices, but the news was not good – CMS declined to include CT colonography coverage while it expanded coverage for traditional colonoscopy. The MPFS regulates the Medicare fee schedule payment provisions as well as the Quality Payment Program (QPP).

Radiologists at NYU Langone Medical Center have been creating video radiology reports in addition to their traditional text-based reports. The videos are intended for the patient, not the referring physician, and they are uploaded to the patient portal as they are completed. A team headed by Michael P. Recht, MD, studied the results, which became available online April 20 at the American Journal of Roentgenology. An example of a video report is included in NYU Langone’s NewsHub.