New from National Health Care Reform Front and Center May 7, 2010 Breaking News: CMS Correction Means Increased Payments for MPI, CT and Cardiac Cath The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) today released a technical correction to the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, which results in payment increases for myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI) codes, cardiac CT codes, and cardiac catheterization codes, retroactive to Jan. 1, 2010. The correction notice also includes a minor increase in the Medicare conversion factor (from 36.066 to 36. 0791) effective June through December 2010. The corrections to MPI and CT codes address errors made in incorporating RUC recommendations on direct practice expenses (e.g., medical supplies, equipment time) for these services. The errors included incorrect practice expense values for CPT codes 75571-75574 and 78451-78454. For example, the corrected national average payment for 78452 (SPECT MPI, multiple) is $439, compared to the $379 published in the November Final Rule. The American Society of Nuclear Cardiology, the Society of Nuclear Medicine and the American Medical Association identified the errors in the SPECT codes. Society of Cardiovascular Computed Tomography (SCCT) and ACC worked with CMS to correct errors in the cardiac CT codes. The correction notice also includes changes to malpractice RVUs for cardiac catheterization services. In the Final Rule for the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, CMS agreed with ACC, SCAI, and the AMA that cardiac cath services should be assigned malpractice RVUs based on the higher surgical risk factor. However, the published RVUs and payment rates did not correctly reflect that policy change. With this notice, CMS has corrected its error. The payment changes -- for example, an increase from $235 to $253 for 93510-26 (Left heart catheterization, professional component) -- reflect the higher risk associated with invasive procedures. Click here for an ACC-prepared chart on specific corrections. Your ACC continues to apply pressure to CMS to address the other imaging cuts included in the 2010 Medicare rule. Most importantly, we continue to press for a phase-in of the bundled nuclear codes and are working with members of Congress and CMS to help them understand the extent of the cuts, their impacts on practices and the need for a formal policy that phases in cuts of a certain magnitude over time. In the meantime, stay tuned for more information as it relates to notifying payers of these new corrections. We are now nearing 120 co-sponsors on our Gonzalez legislation! "Congress is beginning to realize they have to do something," writes ACC CEO Jack Lewin in a recent Lewin Report blog post. "The dilemma is how to propose a longer-term solution that Congress will buy into." Read the complete post and share your thoughts. Register now for the following ACC webinars: On May 13, the ACC will hold its third "Imaging in FOCUS" Webinar starting at 4:00 p.m. (ET). The one-hour Webinar will address how to set FOCUS goals related to the implementation of appropriate use criteria at the point of care. Register now. On May 19, the ACC will hold a Webinar on the new TAD Guidelines from 2:00 � 3:30 p.m. (ET). Register now. Questions/Comments contact ACC Advocate Editor Steve Erickson at advocate@acc.org.