On July 8th as reported by the American College of Radiology, The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released its proposed rule for federal fiscal year (FY) 2014 changes to Medicare’s Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS). For 2014, CMS is proposing to use FY 2011 cost data to establish separate cost centers for computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), distinctly separate from the diagnostic radiology cost center for pricing out payments for CTs and MRIs in the inpatient setting. This would not only cut hospital outpatient payments for CT and MRI studies by 18 – 38 percent, but the technical payments would fall below the rates in the Physician Fee Schedule causing these cuts to affect in-office imaging as mandated by the Deficit Reduction Act.
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