ACR provides MIPS reporting guidelines

The MACRA "season opener" has come and gone, and imaging practices can now begin reporting quality metrics in the hopes of receiving a positively adjusted reimbursement. Chair of the American College of Radiology (ACR)'s Commission on Economics, Zeke Silva III, MD, outlines the four reporting options for the first year of the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), in a post for ACR Bulletin.

MIPS has four seperate preformance categories, but certain provisions intended to ease the transition mean the Cost and Advancing Care Information categories won't apply to radiologists. Instead, radiologists' score during the first year will be judged on preformance in quality (85 percent) and improvement activities (15 percent).  

Read the full piece below:

As a Senior Writer for TriMed Media Group, Will covers radiology practice improvement, policy, and finance. He lives in Chicago and holds a bachelor’s degree in Life Science Communication and Global Health from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He previously worked as a media specialist for the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. Outside of work you might see him at one of the many live music venues in Chicago or walking his dog Holly around Lakeview.

Around the web

The patient, who was being cared for in the ICU, was not accompanied or monitored by nursing staff during his exam, despite being sedated.

The nuclear imaging isotope shortage of molybdenum-99 may be over now that the sidelined reactor is restarting. ASNC's president says PET and new SPECT technologies helped cardiac imaging labs better weather the storm.

CMS has more than doubled the CCTA payment rate from $175 to $357.13. The move, expected to have a significant impact on the utilization of cardiac CT, received immediate praise from imaging specialists.