American College of Cardiology

On March 1, 2005, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission released a report to Congress that included six recommendations on medical imaging. Visit www.medpac.gov to view the full report or click here to read the chapter related to physician payment policy.

MedPAC Recommendations to Congress

• The Secretary should use Medicare claims data to measure fee-for-service physicians’ resource use and share results with physicians confidentially to educate them about how they compare with aggregated peer performance. The Congress should direct the Secretary to perform this function.
  
  
• The Secretary should improve Medicare’s coding edits that detect unbundled diagnostic imaging services and reduce the technical component payment for multiple imaging services performed on contiguous body parts.
  
  
• The Congress should direct the Secretary to set standards for physicians who bill Medicare for interpreting diagnostic imaging studies. The Secretary should select private organizations to administer the standards.
  
  
• The Congress should direct the Secretary to set standards for all providers who bill Medicare for performing diagnostic imaging studies. The Secretary should select private organizations to administer the standards.
  
  
• The Secretary should include nuclear medicine and PET procedures as designated health services under the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act.
  
  
• The Secretary should expand the definition of physician ownership in the Ethics in Patient Referrals Act to include interests in an entity that derives a substantial proportion of its revenue from a provider of designated health services.