[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 163 (Thursday, October 27, 2011)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1949]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




       DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING SERVICES ACCESS PROTECTION ACT OF 2011

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. PETE OLSON

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, October 27, 2011

  Mr. OLSON. Mr. Speaker, I rise today, along with 32 additional 
bipartisan House members, to introduce the Diagnostic Imaging Services 
Access Protection Act of 2011. I am introducing this legislation to 
preserve patient access to important, life-saving advanced diagnostic 
imaging services, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed 
tomography (CT), and ultrasound.
  Radiologists are paid for the time, effort, and skill involved in 
interpreting images, rendering patient diagnoses, and reporting their 
findings as part of the medical record. A Proposed Rule by the Centers 
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would cut the professional 
component reimbursement for radiologists by 50 percent through 
application of a multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) to the 
interpretation of multiple images for a single patient.
  Under the Proposed Rule, CMS seeks to apply this MPPR policy to the 
professional component due to what we think is a flawed view that there 
are considerable ``efficiencies'' when the same patient receives 
multiple imaging services from the same radiologist during a single 
session. This substantial cut is a disservice to radiologists and 
ignores the fact that radiologists spend an equal amount of time, 
effort, and skill interpreting each diagnostic image, regardless of the 
number of images being examined, the section of the body being 
examined, or the particular date of the imaging service.
  My legislation ensures that CMS does not arbitrarily undervalue the 
role of the radiologist within the health care delivery system. As you 
know, individuals receiving multiple imaging studies often represent 
the sickest and most complex patients seen by radiologists. Constituent 
radiologists contacting our offices in recent months have shared their 
concerns regarding the impact of this policy, particularly on patients 
who receive multiple scans during a single session and are typically 
affected by severe trauma, stroke, or widespread cancer.
  Implementation of this flawed MPPR will disproportionately affect our 
most vulnerable patient population and could actually cost our health 
care system more in the long run. This action could force physicians 
who currently provide imaging services in a private practice setting to 
move to a hospital setting, causing these vital services to be 
reimbursed through the more expensive Hospital Outpatient Prospective 
Payment Schedule (HOPPS), rather than the Medicare Physician Fee 
Schedule.
  I urge all Members of the House of Representatives to lend their 
support to this bipartisan legislation dedicated to preserving patient 
access to community-based diagnostic imaging services.

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