The American College of Radiology (ACR) has requested that the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) keep to its plan to mandate appropriate use criteria (AUC) and clinical decision support (CDS) for ordering Medicare advanced diagnostic imaging services as of January 1, 2018.
The ACR said it's ready to execute its AUC program on January 1, 2018, and can assist CMS in achieving the implementation date. The college submitted its request in written comments to CMS on December 22 in response to the AUC/CDS provisions of the 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule.
In other comments, the ACR lobbied CMS to take actions to maintain transparency in the AUC program, including releasing applications from approved, qualified provider-led entities detailing how they meet the requirements laid out in the 2016 MPFS final rule, as well as the forthcoming applications for the qualified decision-support mechanisms (QDSMs).
The college said it also offered input on the final list of priority clinical areas for use in determining physician outliers, the qualifications and application process for the QDSMs, and claims processing for program implementation.
