ASNR Health Policy Links

Health Policy Resources — Publications, Webinars and Multimedia

In a time when imaging reimbursement and healthcare delivery in general are rapidly evolving, your ASNR remains actively engaged. The ASNR Health Policy Committee is involved in numerous coding, reimbursement, and advocacy initiatives related to neuroradiology procedures. The team also works aggressively in order to keep our members informed and updated on health policy issues. As a resource to our members, we have collected the following health policy related podcasts and articles by members of the ASNR HPC and others. We hope you find these useful in preparing your departments and practices for ongoing changes. If you have any questions or comments please feel free to reach out to William D. Donovan, MD, MPH, FACR (ASNR HPC Co-Chair) or Rahul Bhala, MBA, MPH (ASNR Public Affairs and Health Policy Strategy Officer).


The Health Policy Committee would like to share the following information on behalf of AMA. Action required before October 9, 2023.

On Aug. 10, CMS made available 2022 MIPS performance feedback, which determines whether physicians will receive a positive, neutral or negative payment adjustment on Medicare services furnished in 2024. The AMA has heard alarming reports of physicians facing MIPS penalties in 2024 for the first time since the program started. We strongly encourage you to view this information as soon as possible for two reasons:

  1. If there are any errors, you should consider submitting an appeal, also called a targeted review. For more information about how to request a targeted review, please refer to the 2022 Targeted Review User Guide (PDF). The deadline to submit a targeted review is 8 pm ET Oct. 9, 2023.
  2. You can help us advocate against Medicare physician payment cuts in 2024 by sharing this information. If you feel comfortable, you can share de-identified score and corresponding payment adjustment information. This will inform our understanding of the impact of MIPS on physician payment in 2024 and can help us in our conversations with the administration and Congress about ensuring physician payment supports high-quality care to Medicare patients. Please share your information by emailing the AMA Advocacy staff at ama.advocacy@ama-assn.org.

Physicians can view their 2022 MIPS Performance Feedback information on the Quality Payment Program (QPP) website using their HCQIS Access Role and Profile (HARP) credentials. The CMS Payment Adjustment User Guide (PDF) walks through the process of accessing and downloading performance feedback.

Questions? Please contact Jennifer Hananoki jennifer.hananoki@ama-assn.org or Koryn Rubin koryn.rubin@ama-assn.org.


HPC Blog Posts

September 18, 2023: AI Reimbursement Update: First CPT Category III Code in Neuroradiology

September 30, 2021: Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee Meeting Recap

July 21, 2021: Advocating for Advocacy

March 4, 2021: A Novel Resource to Facilitate New Medical Imaging Discoveries Related to the COVID-19 Pandemic: the Medical Imaging and Data Resource Center (MIDRC)

February 4, 2021: Radiology and the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021

February 1, 2021: What’s the Latest with Clinical Decision Support?

October 2020: COVID-Specific CPT Codes Released

September 3, 2020: The Quadruple Aim: Radiologists and Physicians in the Center

August 8, 2020: Opinion: Limiting Treatment of Patients with Painful Vertebral Compression Fractures is Not Okay

Health Policy Week Webinars

ASNR Health Policy Week features a selection of webinars and podcasts brought to you by ASNR members to provide important updates and relevant information in the areas of advocacy and health policy.

  • Health Policy: The Current ClimateWATCH HERE
  • What Can Neuroradiologists Expect in the Biden Administration?WATCH HERE
  • Health Equity: What the Radiologist Needs to KnowWATCH HERE
  • Show Me the Money: Reimbursement Models for Artificial IntelligenceWATCH HERE
  • E&M Code Changes: Evolution Towards Value-Based Healthcare (Podcast)WATCH HERE

Publications

Health Care Economics: A Study Guide for Neuroradiology Fellows, Part 2

Weiner, Tu, Javan, Taheri

Click Here »

Health Care Economics: A Study Guide for Neuroradiology Fellows, Part 1

Weiner, Tu, Javan, Taheri

Click Here »

An American Sickness: How Healthcare Became Big Business and How You Can Take It Back (Penguin, 2017)

Elizabeth Rosenthal, MD

– Perhaps the most approachable authoritative current text on American healthcare pricing. The author is Editor in Chief of Kaiser Health News; former reporter on health issues for the New York Times; and before that, a practicing Emergency Medicine physician.

Click Here »

The episode, the PTAC, cost, and the neurointerventionalist

Hirsch JA, Rosenkrantz AB, Liu RW, Manchikanti L, Nicola GN

Click Here »

MACRA 2.0: are you ready for MIPS?

Hirsch JA, Rosenkrantz AB, Ansari SA, et al

Click Here »

Fixing Medical Prices: How Physicians Are Paid. Harvard University Press, 2016.

Miriam Laugesen, PhD

– The history of the RBRVS, the AMA’s influence over medical pricing through the CPT and RUC process, insights and prognoses for physician payment in the years to come. Based on extensive research, the author, a professor in the Columbia School of Public Health, attended several RUC meetings and interviewed numerous stakeholders.

Click Here »

The RUC: a primer for neurointerventionalists

Joshua A Hirsch, Ezequiel Silva III, Gregory N Nicola, Robert M Barr, Jacqueline A Bello, Laxmaiah Manchikanti, William D Donovan

Click Here »

Component coding and the neurointerventionalist: a tale with an end

Joshua A Hirsch, William D Donovan, Thabele M Leslie-Mazwi, Greg N Nicola, Laxmaiah Manchikanti, Ezequiel Silva III

Click Here »

Neuroimaging Clinics of North America: The Resource-Based Relative Value Scale and Neuroradiology: ASNR’s History at the RUC

William D. Donovan, MD, MPH

Click Here »

AJNR: What Is the RUC?

William D. Donovan, MD, MPH

Click Here »

JACR: Professional Component Payment Reductions for Diagnostic Imaging Examinations When More Than One Service Is Rendered by the Same Provider in the Same Session: An Analysis of Relevant Payment Policy

Bibb Allen Jr, MD, William D. Donovan, MD, MPH, Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA, Robert M. Barr, MD, Ezequiel Silva III, MD, Richard Duszak Jr, MD, Angela J. Kim, MS, Pam Kassing, MPA, RCC

Click Here »

JACR: Professional Efficiencies for Diagnostic Imaging Services Rendered by Different Physicians: Analysis of Recent Medicare Multiple Procedure Payment Reduction Policy

Richard Duszak Jr, MD, Ezequiel Silva III, MD, Angela J. Kim, MS, Robert M. Barr, MD, William D. Donovan, MD, MPH, Pamela Kassing, MPA, Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA, Bibb Allen Jr, MD

Click Here »

Multimedia

MACRA 2.0 — JNIS podcast Jan 2017

Nicola, Rosencrantz, Hirsch

Click Here »

MACRA 101: Year 1 Basics for General, Small, and Rural Practices

Webinar by Dr. Greg Nicola, ASNR Economics Committee Chair, ACR MACRA Committee Chair

Click Here »

MACRA – the new value-based payment paradigms: Implications for the practicing radiologist

Webinar by Greg Nicola, ASNR Economics Committee Chair, ACR MACRA Committee Chair

Click Here »

Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery: Current Procedural Terminology

Josh Hirsch, MD Jacqueline Bello, MD and Raymond Tu, MD

Click Here »

Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery: Component Coding and the RUC

Josh Hirsch, MD Bill Donovan, MD and Zeke Silva, MD

Click Here »