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ASNC Convenes 16 National Societies in Request to Delay AUC Program
This week, ASNC led and was joined by 16 national organizations in sending a letter to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees urging them to delay the Medicare Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) Program.
This week, ASNC led and was joined by 16 national organizations in sending a letter to leaders of the Senate Finance Committee and House Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means Committees urging them to delay the Medicare Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) Program. In the letter, the organizations conveyed that the current proposed timeline for implementing the Medicare AUC Program for advanced diagnostic imaging tests will not afford physicians adequate time to integrate the program's requirements into their clinical workflow without disruption.ASNC thanks all the societies that joined as signatories, including the American College of Cardiology.
The appropriate use mandate requires clinicians who order advanced imaging tests to consult AUC using a qualified clinical decision support (CDS) mechanism before payment will be made to the clinician who performs and bills for the test. For cardiovascular imagers that includes, nuclear cardiology, cardiac CT, and cardiac MRI. ASNC strongly supports the use of AUC but the deadlines for implementation set by Congress are proving challenging for CMS. Under current law, the AUC Program requirements will take effect January 1, 2017.
ASNC, as well as the other organizations that signed the letter, do not believe that the timelines proposed by CMS in the 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule will provide adequate time for practices to comply with the program's requirements, which will not be finalized until November 2016 — less than two months prior to the Program's effective date. For more details on the AUC Program. Plus, read announcement from fellow signatories, AAFP.
On September 17, ASNC members convened for a day on Capitol Hill in conjunction with the ASNC Annual Meeting during which 50 congressional meetings were held, including with the committees that hold jurisdiction over Medicare. During these meetings, ASNC shared their concerns with the statutory deadlines.