Radiology Business Management Association and Ultrasound Access Coalition Highlight Impending Ultrasound Cuts
(PRWEB) February 20, 2019 -- Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) and the Ultrasound Access Coalition (UAC) today highlighted the significant pending cuts to Medicare reimbursement for ultrasound ser-vices. UAC successfully prevented a $112 million reduction in ultrasound services, originally proposed to go into effect in 2019. The presentation is available here.
“We successfully prevented a reduction for 2019, but this is a delay only,” said Tim Trysla, ex-ecutive director of UAC. “Unless we can provide CMS with additional information, these cuts will go into effect as early as 2020. We need physicians who provide ultrasound services to send us invoices reflecting the actual cost to purchase ultrasound equipment.”
RBMA and UAC look forward to working with stakeholders to ensure physicians are appropriately reimbursed for critical, life-saving ultrasound services.
“The UAC has been a critical industry coalition to educate CMS and others about the importance of ultrasound and to develop the correct focus on ultrasound reimbursements,” said Robert T. Still, FRBMA, executive director of the Radiology Business Management Association.
“It is extremely important that we provide CMS with hard evidence as to the price paid for ultrasound equipment and all its components so that reimbursement for these services can be accurately calculated. Due to our strength in numbers and diversity of practice composition RBMA members are uniquely qualified to assist,” said Linda A. Wilgus, CPA, CMPE, executive director of Northwest Radiology Network and chair of the RBMA Federal Affairs Committee.
UAC’s members include more than 70,000 physicians who use lifesaving imaging equipment, over 1,000 imaging centers and practices performing more than 7 million imaging procedures annually, patients who benefit from ultrasound services, and the major manufacturers of ultra-sound equipment. Thus, UAC represents those who manufacture and develop ultrasound technology, the independent centers and physician practices that purchase the technology, the physicians who perform ultrasound procedures, and the patients who benefit from them.
About UAC
The Ultrasound Access Coalition is a cross-industry group of ultrasound stakeholders. Our members include: American College of Radiology; American College of Cardiology; American Portable Diagnostics Association; Association for Quality Imaging; Center for Diagnostic Imaging; General Electric; Hologic; Radiology Business Management Association; RadNet; SonoSite; and TridentUSA.
ABOUT RBMA
Founded in 1968, the Radiology Business Management Association is a national not-for-profit association providing members with applied business information and intelligence applicable in any radiology setting. RBMA represents more than 2,300 radiology practice managers and other radiology business professionals. Its aggregate influence extends to more than 24,000 radiologic technologists and 26,000 administrative staff and physicians. RBMA is the leading professional organization for radiology business management and is recognized for its radiology-specific educational programs, products and services, publications and data. The resources and solutions RBMA offers its members and the broader health care community are helping to shape the profession’s future.
Daphne Gawronski, Radiology Business Management Association, +1 (703) 621-3353, [email protected]
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