New RUC chair signals the AMA's commitment to digital health

by: Julia Kyles, CPC Feb 26, 2021

The incoming leader of the influential AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) appears to be another sign of the AMA’s focus on digital health care.

The AMA announced that Ezequiel Silva III, M.D., a radiologist in San Antonio, will begin his two-year term March 1. Silva has been a member of the RUC since 2016 and his duties have included co-chair of the Digital Medicine Payment Advisory Group, which was created to identify barriers to the adoption of digital medicine, according to the AMA press release, published Feb. 23.

“The rise of the digital-native physician will have a profound impact on health care and patient outcomes, and the RUC will be increasingly called upon to assess the impact of digital health technologies on patient care,” said AMA Board Chair Russ Kridel, M.D. “Dr. Silva’s respected insights into emerging digital technologies and his leadership qualities will help guide the RUC’s vital work as a source of physician input on policies that govern Medicare.”

The AMA’s commitment to digital medicine has goes beyond RUC meetings, which has been evident in the CPT ® manual. Since 2019, there have been several enhancements to digital services, including a number of new and revised remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) services, which have been accepted by CMS. The RPM trend will continue into 2022 with the addition of five new codes, according to a summary of the October 2020 CPT Editorial Panel meeting.

Blog Tags: AMA

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