Changes to Medicare regulations for radiopharmaceutical preparation as well as radiology requirements for ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) were among the provisions in a final rule released on Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
CMS released the rule as part of an initiative to reform regulations identified as "unnecessary, obsolete, or excessively burdensome on hospitals and other healthcare providers."
The rule reduces the requirements ASCs must meet to provide radiological services to patients. ASCs have been subject to CMS' full hospital requirements for radiology services, even though they are only permitted to provide limited radiologic services integral to the performance of certain surgical procedures. The new requirement will reflect only those services that ASCs are permitted to perform. This reform is expected to yield savings of $41 million per year, according to CMS.
In addition, CMS is revising the nuclear medicine services conditions of participation to remove the modifier "direct" from the in-house preparation supervision requirement. As a result, the presence of a pharmacist or person with a Doctor of Medicine or Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree will no longer be required during the delivery of off-hour nuclear medicine tests, according to CMS.
The new rule "permits trained nuclear medicine technicians in hospitals to prepare radiopharmaceuticals for nuclear medicine without the supervising physician or pharmacist constantly being present, which will help speed services to patients, particularly during off hours," CMS said in a statement.
The changes were based on the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) recommendations on this issue, CMS said. The final rule can be found here.
