Artificial intelligence vendor Viz.ai scores Medicare coverage for stroke CT platform
Artificial intelligence vendor Viz.ai says its stroke CT algorithm is the first to land coverage from Medicare.
The San Francisco-based firm touted the “groundbreaking ruling” on Thursday, granting it a New Technology Add-on Payment from CMS. This category was set up by the feds to help support the speedy adoption of new and cutting-edge technology, officials said.
Viz LVO—formerly known as Viz ContaCT—first gained clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration back in 2018. The platform utilizes AI to help radiologists automatically identify suspected large vessel occlusion strokes more quickly before they snowball.
The firm was able to score the add-on payment after demonstrating a “significant reduction” in time to treatment, along with improved outcomes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has agreed on a payment of up to $1,040 per use of the algorithm in patients with suspected stroke.
"The extra reimbursement will empower hospitals as they strive to improve outcomes for stroke patients especially during a pandemic where hospitals have the additional cost burdens associated with COVID,” Jayme Strauss, executive director of neuroscience at Atlanta-based Piedmont Healthcare, said in a Viz.ai statement.
Marty Stempniak has covered healthcare since 2012, with his byline appearing in the American Hospital Association's member magazine, Modern Healthcare and McKnight's. Prior to that, he wrote about village government and local business for his hometown newspaper in Oak Park, Illinois. He won a Peter Lisagor and Gold EXCEL awards in 2017 for his coverage of the opioid epidemic.