Final warning: MACRA is almost here

As expected, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was a hot topic at RSNA 2016 in Chicago. There were sessions that explained it, writers who covered it, and attendees throughout McCormick Place were talking about it all week. Heck, I’d say MACRA was the most buzzworthy thing to hit Chicago all year, but the World Series-winning Cubs probably still top that list.

Of course, the hubbub is for a good reason: CMS will base payment adjustments made in 2019 on how radiologists perform in 2017, and 2017 is right around the corner. In just a few more weeks, the actions that imaging leaders and their employees take will count toward determining how their group gets reimbursed.

The American College of Radiology (ACR) did ask CMS to delay the initial reporting period until July 2017 to give providers more time to prepare, but that request was ultimately denied. As the ACR explained in its summary of the MACRA final rule, however, CMS did bend just enough that radiologists should be saved some stress. “Instead of delaying implementation of the reporting period,” the summary read, “CMS acknowledged the concerns of the ACR and others, and first introduced in September 2016 the concept that allows clinicians to select a pace of participation and determined that the first reporting year (2017 performance year, 2019 MIPS payment year) will be treated as a transition year with reduced performance thresholds."

This is undoubtedly good news for radiologists struggling to keep up with changing policies, but it’s not the full delay some specialists may have been hoping for. There was no last-minute decision that saved the day; MACRA still lives, whether you are ready to cope with it or not.

Luckily, it seems that most radiologists are ready to cope with it. From what I’ve seen, heard and read, radiology has reacted to MACRA extremely well. There’s been little panic and a lot of preparation, with organizations such as the ACR, AHRA, HIMSS, RSNA, RBMA and SIIM leading the way every since President Obama signed the bill into law back in April 2015.

So if you still find yourself unprepared, read up on what the experts have to say and get to work. Even if it takes you well into 2017 to get prepared, at least CMS is going a little easy on participants for year No. 1.

Good luck, everyone! We’ll see you again next year.