Dosimetry is Back! CMS to delete 77295/77300 NCCI Edit

Some hard work by ASTRO and ACR, along with the American Association of Physicists in Medicine( AAPM), has paid off as CMS  has agreed to delete the NCCI Edit which ruled that Basic Dosimetry Calculations ,77300, was bundled with 3D Plan 77295.  

The correction will become official on July 1st 2016 and will be retroactive to January 1st 2016. UHN will continue to track all dosimetry calculations which would have been affected by the previous bundling and submit the retroactive charges upon official release of the NCCI Edits on July 1st.

Radiation Oncology Pay Freeze

On December 28th President Obama signed the Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act. The big headline grabber from this law has been the Meaningful Use Hardship Legislation, which expands eligibility for hardship exemptions for Stage 2.

Bigger news for Freestanding Radiation Oncology Centers is found when digging a little deeper into bill S.2425: Payment for treatment delivery and image guidance codes in 2017 and 2018 will remain at the same levels set for 2016.  

This law removes the looming threat of removing the vault as a direct expense when calculating reimbursement, as well as increases in equipment utilization rates, which would have lead to major reductions in payment.  Radiation Oncologist can rest easy knowing that reimbursement will remain steady, at least for a few years.  The Bill also sets 2019 as the target for a transition to an episodic alternative payment model.

CMS Extends Due Date for Meaningful Use Reporting & EHR Incentives

o some of you, it might feel like April 13th and you haven’t yet started to file your taxes, with the CMS Meaningful Use attestation deadline looming at the end of this month. Well, we have good news for you! CMS announced this week that the new deadline for submitting your 2014 Meaningful Use reports will be March 20th, 2015.  This doesn’t mean you should push this to the back burner for another couple of weeks however; they are just being nice and giving you a little extra time so you’re not so stressed.

What does this mean? CMS is giving Medicare EPs (Eligible Physicians) a little extra time to submit, qualifying them to receive their EHR incentive payments and avoid Medicare payment adjustments, which will occur on January 1, 2016.

The extension will also enable eligible professionals, who haven’t yet used their free pass to switch from Medicare to Medicaid, or vice versa. By March 20, 2015, if they have not yet made the switch, they’ll be stuck with their original program. 

This delay will also impact EHR reporting for PQRS (Physician Quality Reporting System), which is the reporting program for physicians that combines incentive payment and payment adjustments, where they cut payments as a way to promote improved reporting of quality information.

Stay informed about the latest PQRS news by subscribing to the PQRS Listserv.

Giving EPs this extra time shows how dedicated CMS is to their commitment to make changes to the HER incentive programs, making it more flexible for providers. So keep in mind what is due on March 20th and make sure that you are getting out ahead of it at your practice.

Submission Deadline is March 20, 2015 at 8:00 PM EST for the following reporting:

• EHR Direct or Data Submission Vendor that is certified EHR technology (CEHRT)
• Qualified clinical data registries (QCDRs) (using QRDA III format) reporting for PQRS and the clinical quality measure (CQM) component of meaningful use for the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program

(Provided by: HER Incentive Programs, a program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services)