Health Policy

Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Community Practice Declines in Noninvasive Diagnostic Imaging Professional Work

The operational and financial impact of the widespread coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) curtailment of imaging services on radiology practices is unknown. We aimed to characterize recent COVID-19-related community practice noninvasive diagnostic imaging professional work declines. The authors used imaging metadata from nine community radiology practices across the United States between January 2019 and May 2020, and mapped work relative value unit (wRVU)-weighted stand-alone noninvasive diagnostic imaging service codes to both modality and body region. Full Article

Richard Duszak Jr, MD, Jeff Maze, MB, Candice Sessa, MS, Howard B. Fleishon, MD, Lauren P. Golding, MD, Gregory N. Nicola, MD, Danny R. Hughes, Ph. 2020. "Characteristics of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Community Practice Declines in Noninvasive Diagnostic Imaging Professional Work," Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR)

Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Implementation: Considerations for Emerging Breast Cancer Screening Bundled Payment Models

Bundled payments have been touted as mechanisms to optimize quality and costs. A recent feasibility study evaluating bundled payments for screening mammography episodes predated widespread adoption of digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). We explore a similar model reflecting emerging acceptance of DBT in breast cancer screening. Methods: Using 4-year data for 59,094 screening episodes from two large facilities within a large academic health system, we utilized published methodology to calibrate Medicare national allowable reference prices for women undergoing screening mammography before and after practice-wide implementation of DBT. Full Article

Margaret M. Fleming, MD, MS, Danny R. Hughes, PhD, Lauren P. Golding, MD, Geraldine B. McGinty, MD, MBA, Dan MacFarlane, BS, CPA, Richard Duszak Jr, MD. 2019. "Digital Breast Tomosynthesis Implementation: Considerations for Emerging Breast Cancer Screening Bundled Payment Models," Journal of American College of Radiology (JACR), 16(7)

Survey Measures Burnout Among Neurointerventionalists

The toll of burnout on healthcare is significant and associated with physician depression and medical errors. The objective of this study it to assess the prevalence and risk factors for burnout among neurointerventionalists. Full Article

Kyle M Fargen, Adam S Arthur, Thabele Leslie-Mazwi, Rebecca M Garner, Carol A Aschenbrenner, Stacey Q Wolfe, Sameer A Ansari, Guilherme Dabus, Alejandro Spiotta, Maxim Mokin, Italo Linfante, J Mocco, Joshua A Hirsch. 2019. "Survey Measures Burnout Among Neurointerventionalists," Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery

Radiologist Professional Payments After Mitigation of CMS’s Multiple-Procedure Payment Reduction Initiatives

The aim of this study was to assess the potential impact of ACR evidence-based advocacy on radiologist professional reimbursement from individual-provider CMS multiple-procedure payment reduction (MPPR) initiatives. Full Article

Sadigh, G., Hughes, D.R., Wang, W., Allen, B., McGinty, G., Silva, E., Duszak, R. 2017. "Radiologist Professional Payments After Mitigation of CMS’s Multiple-Procedure Payment Reduction Initiatives," Journal of the American College of Radiology

MACRA, Alternative Payment Models, and the Physician-Focused Payment Model: Implications for Radiology

This paper suggests that patient-focused physician models provide a compelling opportunity for radiologists to demonstrate and be rewarded for their unique contributions toward patient care, and may foster greater radiologist participation in APMs under MACRA. Full Article

Rosenkrantz, A.B., Nicola G.N., Allen, B., Hughes, D.R., and Hirsch, J.A. 2017. "MACRA, Alternative Payment Models, and the Physician-Focused Payment Model: Implications for Radiology," Journal of the American College of Radiology

January 5, 2017

Radiologists and CMS’ Patient Facing Designation

To help radiologists understand whether they – or their practice – are likely to be designated as patient facing for participation in MIPS, the Neiman Institute has provided the Radiologist Patient Facing Dataset. Read More

The Proposed MACRA/MIPS Threshold for Patient-Facing Encounters: What It Means for Radiologists

This report found that CMS’ proposed criteria for special considerations in new payment models would result in many radiologists being evaluated using measures not reflective of their practice. Full Article

Rosenkrantz A.B., Hirsch J.A., Allen B. Jr., Wang W., Hughes D.R., Nicola G. 2017. "The Proposed MACRA/MIPS Threshold for Patient-Facing Encounters: What It Means for Radiologists," Journal of the American College of Radiology, 14(3): 308 - 315.

MACRA, MIPS, and the New Medicare Quality Payment Program: An Update for Radiologists

This report provides an overview of CMS’ proposal for implementing MACRA legislation via the new QPP, paying specific attention to the implications and imperatives for radiologists under MIPS. Full Article

Rosenkrantz, A.B., Nicola G.N., Allen, B., Hughes, D.R., and Hirsch, J.A. 2017. "MACRA, MIPS, and the New Medicare Quality Payment Program: An Update for Radiologists," Journal of the American College of Radiology, 14(3): 316 - 323.

Modeling and Designing Health Care Payment Innovations for Medical Imaging

This paper specifically studies the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and determines how this incentive program affects computed tomography (CT) use, and how it could be redesigned to minimize unnecessary CT scans. Full Article

Zhang, H., Wernz, C., Hughes, D.R. 2016. "Modeling and Designing Health Care Payment Innovations for Medical Imaging," Health Care Management Science

An Empirical Framework for Breast Screening Bundled Payments

This study reports that breast cancer screening provides a framework for radiologist-led bundled payment models. Full Article

Hughes, D.R., Jiang, M., McGinty, G.B., Shetty, S., Duszak Jr, R. 2017. "An Empirical Framework for Breast Screening Bundled Payments," Journal of the American College of Radiology, 14(1): 17 - 23.