The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) of Rosslyn, VA, issued a statement this week criticizing the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's (MedPAC) March 1 report to Congress analyzing the growth in healthcare costs.
The most recent MedPAC report is repeating the same mistakes MedPAC made in the past in its analysis of growth in medical imaging costs, according to NEMA vice president of medical imaging and technology alliance (MITA) Andrew Whitman.
MedPAC's focus on the growth of medical imaging does not take into account less-invasive treatment options, faster recoveries, and shorter disability provided by the use of imaging technology. Whitman also said that MedPAC overstates the size of the growth in medical imaging by overlooking the impact of the migration of imaging services from hospital outpatient departments to physician offices and imaging centers.
The problem, according to Whitman, is that when minimally invasive procedures, such as image-guided breast biopsies, migrate from a hospital outpatient setting to a physician's office, they are counted by MedPAC as increases in utilization under the sustainable growth rate (SGR) budgeting mechanism; however, the offsetting savings that come from replacing hospital-based open surgery are overlooked.
In addition, Whitman criticized MedPAC for its lack of analysis on growth factors such as increased incidence of disease, longer life spans of Medicare beneficiaries, changes in clinical practice guidelines, and increases in screening benefits enacted by Congress.
By AuntMinnie.com staff writers
March 7, 2007
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