[Congressional Record Volume 166, Number 196 (Wednesday, November 18, 2020)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1051]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





  INTRODUCTION OF A BILL TO REQUIRE AN ACCREDITATION PROCESS FOR EDX 
                                TESTING

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                            HON. GREG WALDEN

                               of oregon

                    in the house of representatives

                      Wednesday, November 18, 2020

  Mr. WALDEN. Madam Speaker, I rise today to introduce a bill that will 
combat bad actors taking advantage of Medicare by requiring an 
accreditation process for electrodiagnostic studies or EDX testing.
  EDX testing is used to diagnose and guide treatment for neuromuscular 
conditions that range from the uncomfortable, such as carpal tunnel 
syndrome, to the life threatening, such as ALS and muscular dystrophy. 
Current Procedural Terminology requires that a clinician trained in EDX 
testing personally perform invasive needle electromyography and either 
perform or directly supervise nerve conduction studies. These 
requirements ensure proper testing is guided in real time based on 
biofeedback from active study and a knowledge of health history and 
potential diagnoses.
  An ongoing challenge for EDX testing has been an increase of fraud 
and abuse when mobile labs send ``technicians'' to provide an excessive 
number of tests that are often not medically necessary and tend to be 
performed poorly, providing inaccurate results that are not clinically 
relevant. A 2014 report by the HHS OIG entitled ``Questionable Billing 
for Medicare Electrodiagnostic Tests'' found $139 million in annual 
suspicious spending in this area.
  This bill will require that professionals performing EDX testing 
first demonstrate that they have the proper equipment to conduct the 
test. Second, professionals must demonstrate that they have the proper 
training to interpret the results by going through an accreditation 
process managed by government entities and professional societies. 
Accreditation has been successful in combating fraud in other patient 
areas such as mammography and sleep labs.
  This bill will protect patients seeking treatment by ensuring they 
receive the most accurate results possible and I strongly urge my 
colleagues support for its passage.

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