CMS Announces Revised 2014 Gamma Knife Reimbursement Rates

September 5, 2013 -- American Shared Hospital Services announced today that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a revision of the previously proposed rule for Medicare's hospital outpatient prospective payment system for calendar year 2014. Within this proposed rule, CMS proposes updates for the delivery codes used for stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS), including Gamma Knife services.

On August 28, 2013, CMS revised its previously proposed delivery code rate to reimburse hospitals for a complete course of treatment comprised of a single session of SRS to $5,615, a 70 percent increase over the current rate. CMS, on July 8, 2013, initially proposed to reimburse hospitals at $8,576 in 2014, an increase of 160 percent over the current rate. Effective April 1, 2013, CMS Gamma Knife delivery code reimbursement was reduced to $3,300 from the previous rate of $7,910.

This CMS proposed reimbursement rate is subject to comments from interested parties and could change. The Company intends to review data revising the rate and comment to CMS on the proposed changes.

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