The federal No Surprises Act (NSA), designed to eliminate surprise medical billing for out-of-network (OON) care for circumstances beyond patients' control, established the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process to settle clinician-payer payment disputes for OON care. The objective of this study is to assess the fraction of OON claims for which radiologists and other hospital-based specialists can expect to at least break even when challenging payer-determined payments through the NSA IDR process, as a measure of the process's financial viability. Full Article
Eric W. Christensen, PhD, Mikki D. Waid, PhD, Joshua A. Hirsch, MD, Jay R. Parikh, MD, Ali S. Raja, MD, DBA, James P. Rathmell, MD, MBA, and Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD. 2024. "Financial Viability of the No Surprises Act Independent Dispute Resolution Process: Radiology and Other Hospital-Based Specialties," American Journal of Roentgenology
October 1, 2023
The ACP now says CTC shouldn’t be used for primary colon cancer screening. USPSTF recommends CTC. Commercial carriers pay for it, but Medicare doesn’t. Why the conflicting policies, and what can the Neiman Health Policy Institute do to help? Read the full ACR Bulletin October 2023 Column
Approximately one-third of the eligible U.S. population have not undergone guideline-compliant colorectal cancer screening. Guidelines recognize various screening strategies, to increase adherence. CMS provides coverage for all recommended screening tests except for CT colonography. The objective of this study is to compare CTC and other CRC screening tests in terms of associations of utilization with income, race and ethnicity, and urbanicity, in Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. Full Article
Eric W. Christensen, PhD, Pina C. Sanelli, MD, MPH, Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD, Kevin J. Chang, MD, Courtney C. Moreno, MD, David H. Bruining, MD, and Judy Yee, MD. 2023. "Sociodemographic Factors and Screening CT Colonography Use Among Medicare Beneficiaries," American Journal of Roentgenology
Out-of-pocket costs (OOPCs) have been largely eliminated for screening mammography. However, patients still face OOPCs when undergoing subsequent diagnostic tests after the initial screening, which represents a potential barrier to those who require follow-up testing after initial testing. This study examines the association between the degree of patient cost-sharing and the use of diagnostic breast cancer imaging after undergoing a screening mammogram. Full Article
Danny R. Hughes, PhD; William Espinoza, MS; Sarah Fein, MS; Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD; Geraldine McGinty, MD, MBA. 2023. "Patient Cost-Sharing and Utilization of Breast Cancer Diagnostic Imaging by Patients Undergoing Subsequent Testing After a Screening Mammogram," JAMA Network Open
The researchers objective was to examine the association of treatment and neuroimaging with ischemic stroke total hospital cost growth for the Medicare fee-for-service population. Full Article
Eric W. Christensen, PhD , Casey E. Pelzl, MPH, Jennifer Hemingway, MS, Jason J. Wang, PhD, Maria X. Sanmartin, PhD, Jason J. Naidich, MD, MBA, Elizabeth Y. Rula, PhD, Pina C. Sanelli, MD, MPH. 2022. "Drivers of Ischemic Stroke Hospital Cost Trends Among Older Adults in the United States," Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR)
August 1, 2022
Our principal research scientist in health economics, Eric W. Christensen, PhD, discusses the disparities by race/ethnicity, sex, age, and income that are present in nearly every instance they are examined — creating concerning inequities for medical professionals. Read the ACR Bulletin August Column
August 1, 2022
As the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute celebrates 10 years, Richard Duszak Jr., MD, FACR, discusses the HPI’s role in health policy research past, present, and future in the July ACR Bulletin Research Rounds column. Read the JACR Bulletin Column
The number and roles of US nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) have expanded considerably, but little is known about their use by radiology practices. The authors assessed characteristics and trends of radiology practices employing Medicare-recognized NPPs. Full Article
Stefan Santavicca, MS, Danny R. Hughes, PhD, Andrew B. Rosenkrantz, MD, MPA, Eric Rubin, MD, Richard Duszak Jr., MD. 2022. "Radiology Practices Employing Nurse Practitioners and Physician Assistants: Characteristics and Trends From 2017 Through 2019," Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR)
March 4, 2022
The number and roles of US nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) have expanded considerably, but little is known about their use by radiology practices. The authors assessed characteristics and trends of radiology practices employing Medicare-recognized NPPs.
Intracranial mechanical thrombectomy (MT) is increasingly indicated for use in acute ischemic stroke patients. The researchers analyzed recent trends in the characteristics and geographic distributions of physicians providing this service with frequency to Medicare beneficiaries. Full Article
Keshav Jayaraman, Stefan Santavicca, Danny R Hughes, Joshua A Hirsch, Richard Duszak, Jr., Arindam R Chatterjee. 2022. "Recent Trends in High-volume Medicare Stroke Thrombectomy Provider Characteristics," Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery
