WASHINGTON UPDATE: Advocacy Efforts Give Vascular Surgeons Victories in CMS Rules

Dec 13, 2018 Re-posted from the December 2018 issue of Vascular Specialist

SVS actively advocates on behalf of SVS members on issues that affect vascular surgery practices. Sometimes this brings positive outcomes for vascular surgeons, such as last month, when devastating cuts in the pricing for the vascular ultrasound room were avoided.

That and other vascular issues were decided in November, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MFS) and the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (HOPPS) rules.

SVS was pleased with the agency’s decision to maintain the current price of the vascular ultrasound room, thus averting the cuts to vascular surgery. SVS partnered with the Society for Vascular Ultrasound, commissioning an independent report on ultrasound costs and cost data gathered by members. Together, representatives presented the concerns in person to CMS officials and the combined presentation proved to help influence the CMS Final Rule in SVS and SVU’s favor.

CMS announced it would not move forward in 2019 with the payment collapse of Evaluation & Management codes. A two-year window for implementation of the proposal will give the medical community more time to make recommendations to the agency on how to modernize evaluation and management reporting.

SVS was also pleased that CMS declined moving forward on a proposal to reduce payment for office visits, when performed on the same day as another service.

On the HOPPS side, SVS continues to advocate for appropriate site of-service payment policies.

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