Socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods are particularly vulnerable to heat-related illnesses. This study aims to investigate the association between the heat vulnerability index (HVI), an established neighborhood-level metric of heat-related mortality risk, and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) severity. Full Article
Jason J. Wang, Jeffrey M. Katz, Maria X. Sanmartin, Liron D. Sinvani, Jason J. Naidich, Elizabeth Y. Rula, and Pina C. Sanelli. 2024. "Association between Heat Vulnerability Index and Stroke Severity," International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
July 27, 2024
Neiman News Welcome to our quarterly update on the top new research from the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute® (HPI). We cover a range of topics this issue, reflecting the diversity in the HPI research portfolio. Our numerous publications this spring have received a lot of attention from the press. Two articles this quarter directly Read More
The Radiation Oncology Case Rate (ROCR) aims to shift radiation reimbursement from fee-for-service (FFS) to bundled payments, which would decouple fractionation from reimbursement in the United States. This study compares historical reimbursement rates from 3 large centers and a national Medicare sample with proposed base rates from ROCR. It also tests the impact of methodological inclusion of treatment and disease characteristics to determine if any variables are associated with greater rate differences that may lead to inequitable reimbursement. Full Article
Aaron Bush, MD, Chi-Mei Liu, PhD, Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD, Join Luh, MD, Nathan Y. Yu, MD, Nadia Laack, MD, Albert Attia, MD, and Mark Waddle, MD. 2024. "Caught Between a Radiation Oncology Case Rate (ROCR) and a Hard Place: Improving Proposed Radiation Oncology Alternative Payment Models," International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology, Physics
Volume increases, inflation, statutory freezes in physician payments, and the budget neutrality requirement for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule have resulted in persistent inflation-adjusted conversion factor decreases. This study aimed to determine if relative value unit (RVU) volume increases on a per beneficiary basis has counteracted conversion factor decreases and inflation to maintain Medicare reimbursement per beneficiary, overall and across specialties. Full Article
Eric W. Christensen, PhD, Gregory N. Nicola, MD, Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD, Lauren P. Nicola, MD, Joshua A. Hirsch, MD. 2024. "Medicare Volume Growth and Shift in Payments From Physicians to Non-Physician Practitioners Under Statutory Budget Neutrality," INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing
The study shows that radiologists in radiology-only practices score significantly lower in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in 2021. The researchers found that radiologists in multispecialty practices score higher, but rarely report any radiology-relevant MIPS quality measures, and instead report measures relevant to other specialties. The findings were published in the American Journal of Roentgenology. Full Article
YoonKyung Chung, PhD, Lauren P. Nicola, MD, Chi-Mei Liu, PhD, and Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD. 2024. "Radiologists’ 2021 Quality Reporting and Performance in Medicare’s Merit-Based Incentive Payment System: Analysis by Practice Type," American Journal of Roentgenology
Medical imaging, identified as a potential driver of unsustainable US health care spending growth, was subject to policies to reduce prices and use in low-value settings. Meanwhile, the Affordable Care Act increased access to preventive services—many involving imaging—for employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) beneficiaries. The researchers used a large insurance claims database to examine imaging spending trends in the ESI population between 2010 and 2021—a period of considerable policy and benefits changes. Full Article
Michal Horný, Daniel Chang, Eric W Christensen, Elizabeth Y Rula, Richard Duszak, Jr. 2024. "Decomposition of Medical Imaging Spending Growth Between 2010 and 2021 in the U.S. Employer-Insured Population (Michal Horny)," Health Affairs Scholar
This JACR study assessed individual- and neighborhood-level sociodemographic factors associating with providers’ ordering of nonpharmacologic treatments for patients with low back pain (LBP), specifically physical therapy, image-guided interventions, and lumbar
surgery. Full Article
Miriam E. Peckham, MD, Lubdha M. Shah, MD, MS, Huong D. Meeks, PhD, MStat, MPH, Alison Fraser, MSPH, Carlos Galvao, BS, Ghazaleh Safazadeh, MPH, CPH, Troy A. Hutchins, MD, Yoshimi Anzai, MD, MPH, Julie M. Fritz, PhD, PT, ATC, Jacob Kean, PhD, Ruth C. Carlos, MD, MS. 2024. "Disparities in Provider Ordering Practices of Image-Guided Interventions and Surgery for Patients With Low Back Pain: A Cohort Study," Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR)
January 31, 2024
The Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute is a differentiating asset of the ACR, positioning the College at the forefront in advocacy by contributing the scientific evidence needed to inform health policy. The investment the ACR makes in advancing this mission keeps the College at the forefront of the field and an invaluable partner to Read More
January 24, 2024
The Neiman Imaging Comorbidity Index (NICI) is an easily calculated measure of comorbidity burden that can be used to adjust for patients’ chances of receiving advanced imaging. Read the JACR study for full details.
January 19, 2024
Given the financial hardships of surprise billing for patients, the aim of this study was to assess the degree to which radiologists effectively participate in commercial insurance networks by examining the trend in the share of radiologists’ imaging claims that are out of network (OON). Radiologists’ imaging claims that are OON has significantly declined from View Infographic
