ACR Appropriateness Criteria Now Satisfy Federal AUC Requirements

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has named the American College of Radiology (ACR) a “qualified Provider-Led Entity” (qPLE) approved to provide appropriate use criteria (AUC) under the Medicare Appropriate Use Criteria program for advanced diagnostic imaging. This means that medical providers can consult ACR Appropriateness Criteria® to fulfill impending Protecting Access to Medicare Act (PAMA) requirements that they consult AUC prior to ordering advanced diagnostic imaging for Medicare patients. Appropriateness criteria use has been shown to improve quality, reduce unnecessary imaging and lower costs. ACR Appropriateness Criteria, in existence for more than 20 years, define national guidelines for the most appropriate medical imaging exam for a patient’s condition, if any imaging is needed at all. These comprehensive criteria cover 215 topics and more than 1,080 clinical indications. “ACR Appropriateness Criteria are widely accepted because they are created and continually updated by panels of physician experts from many different medical specialties. The evidence is based on a full spectrum of multi-specialty scientific literature — not solely radiology. Providers of all specialties can easily and confidently use ACR Appropriateness Criteria® to help improve the quality of care that they provide,” said William T. Thorwarth, MD, FACR, Chief Executive Officer of the American College of Radiology. ACR Sele...
Source: American College of Radiology - Category: Radiology Source Type: news