A new study published in the Journal of the American College of Radiology suggests that when group practices have different radiologists interpret different scans taken during the same session, the actual cost savings are a scant 1.23%, according to a report in
Health Imaging.
The findings come in response to a CMS decision to expand application of the 25% cut to multiple imaging services known as the multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) to situations where different providers within the same group review images taken during the same session.
These duplications were found to exist entirely within pre- and post-service work, with obtaining informed consent or discussing findings with a referring physician offered as examples.
Radiologists and other who did in-office imaging were of course fiercely opposed to the latest attempt to rein in booming imaging costs. The chair of the American College of Radiology’s Commission on Economics, Dr. Geraldine McGinty, calling on CMS to be more rigorous and transparent on matter of payment policy methodology.