Radiology societies seek help in valuing physician services
Radiology societies are seeking help from the specialty in efforts to correctly value services performed by physicians.
Both the Society of Interventional Radiology and American College of Radiology recently put out calls to their members ahead of January’s Relative Value Scale Update Committee. Radiologists are randomly receiving surveys on several topics, which will help to inform the process.
ACR on Thursday urged its members to take the time to complete the questionnaire, as “responses are critical and the timeline to respond is short.”
“Strong physician participation is what makes the RUC process effective,” the college said in a news update to its members on Oct. 29. “ACR respondents help ensure radiology services are appropriately valued. The information collected through these surveys will help determine physician reimbursement for these procedures when they are addressed by CMS as part of the 2028 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule,” it added.
ACR is launching five RUC surveys to random members. They cover bone age studies, central venous catheter insertion services, deep venous arterialization, renal nerve denervation and stab phlebectomy. Those who receive the same survey from more than one specialty society should complete only one, as the multispecialty data will be aggregated.
Meanwhile, the Society of Interventional Radiology also launched its RUC surveys on Oct. 26, focusing on the same four IR services cited by ACR.
“Your input helps inform recommendations to CMS on the physician time, intensity, complexity and overall work required to provide these services,” SIR said in a separate news update to members, dated Oct. 22.
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.