July 9, 2009 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the review copy of the 2010 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) proposed rule on July 1, 2009. The American College of Radiology (ACR) will be submitting comments to CMS addressing issues of concern by the deadline of August 31, 2009.
The following are the highlights of the proposed rule:
- Effective January 1, 2010 the conversion factor for HOPPS will be $67.439, from the current 2009 conversion factor of $65.684.
- CMS are not proposing to pay separately for radiation therapy guidance services provided in the treatment room for CT 2010, which would be consistent with the APC Panel’s recommendation.
- CMS is proposing to pay for brachytherapy sources based on median unit costs, as calculated from claims data according to the standard OPPS rate setting methodology.
- CMS is proposing to continue to require hospitals participating in HOP QDRP to report the existing 7 chart-abstracted emergency department and perioperative measures, and 4 existing claims-based imaging efficiency measures for the HOP QDRP for CY 2011 payment determination.
- CMS is proposing to revise or further define several current policies for the physician supervision of outpatient services.
For more information: www.acr.org