The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released its proposed rule for fiscal year 2014 changes to Medicare's Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) that, according to a note from the American College of Radiology, will result in reimbursement cuts for MRI and CT studies.
According to the ACR note, CMS is proposing to use FY 2011 cost data to establish separate cost centers for CT and MR distinctly separate from the diagnostic radiology cost center for pricing out payments for CTs and MRIs in the inpatient setting. This would cut hospital outpatient payments for CT and MRI studies by 18 to 38 percent, and also would reduce payments for imaging providers in offices as mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act, since the technical payments would fall below the rates in the Physician Fee Schedule. ACR note