The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) acknowledged the recent downward trend in Medicare spending and utilization on medical imaging procedures in its annual March Report to Congress, a move applauded by the Medical Imaging and Technology Alliance.
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has confirmed the recent downward trend in Medicare spending and utilization on medical imaging procedures and said imaging services declined by 2.5 percent in 2010.
A new analysis verified and strengthened earlier studies that demonstrated the link between financial interest in imaging and greater utilization of imaging. The research, published in the November issue of American Journal of Roentgenology, led the authors to suggest that cost-containment efforts target financial interest in imaging.
Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have analyzed the Top 5 overused clinical activities for primary care physicians and found that $6.7 billion was spent in one year performing unnecessary tests or prescribing unnecessary medications in primary care. Although imaging dominated the Top 5 list, the recommendations published online Oct. 1 in the Archives of Internal Medicine focused on curbing brand name statin prescriptions, which accounted for 86 percent of the cost.
Medicare cuts for imaging are restricting access to care for America’s most vulnerable while stifling innovation and jobs growth—a planned eighth round of cuts in five years must be stopped, wrote a group of U.S. senators in a letter to President Barack Obama.
Self-referring physicians are 2.5 times more likely to order imaging exams on patients than physicians without financial stakes in imaging orders, resulting in an estimated $3.6 billion in additional healthcare costs each year, according to a study published in the July issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.
Radiology benefit managers (RBMs) are assuming an increasing role in the utilization of imaging, but as the authorization system makes its way into more hospitals and national healthcare policy, a study published in the June issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology questions the cost-effectiveness of RBMs and points to substantial cost shifting to providers.
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