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06-09-2024 | Magnetic Resonance Imaging | Scientific Article

Declining Medicare reimbursement in spinal imaging: a 15-year review

Authors: Evan H. Richman, Parker J. Brown, Ian D. Minzer, Joseph C. Brinkman, Michael S. Chang

Published in: Skeletal Radiology

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Abstract

Objective

To analyze and quantify the change in United States of America Medicare reimbursement rates for the 30 most commonly performed spinal imaging procedures.

Materials and methods

The Physician Fee Schedule Look-Up Tool from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services was utilized to find and extract the 28 most billed spinal imaging procedures. All data was adjusted for inflation and listed in 2020 US dollars. Percent change in reimbursement and Relative Value Units between 2005 and 2020, both unadjusted and adjusted, were calculated and compared. Additionally, percent change per year and compound annual growth rate were calculated and compared.

Results

After adjusting for inflation, the average reimbursement for all analyzed spinal imaging procedures between the years 2005 and 2020 decreased by 45.9%. The adjusted reimbursement rate for all procedures decreased at an average 4.3% per year and experienced an average compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of − 4.4%. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had the most substantial adjusted decline of all imaging modalities at − 72.6%, whereas x-ray imaging had the smallest decline at − 27.33%. The average total RVUs per procedure decreased by 50.1%, from 7.96 to 3.97.

Conclusion

From the years 2005 to 2020, Medicare reimbursement significantly decreased for all advanced imaging modalities involving the most common spinal imaging procedures. Among all practices, imaging procedures may be experiencing some of the largest decreases from Medicare reimbursement cutbacks.
Literature
Metadata
Title
Declining Medicare reimbursement in spinal imaging: a 15-year review
Authors
Evan H. Richman
Parker J. Brown
Ian D. Minzer
Joseph C. Brinkman
Michael S. Chang
Publication date
06-09-2024
Publisher
Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Published in
Skeletal Radiology
Print ISSN: 0364-2348
Electronic ISSN: 1432-2161
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00256-024-04792-3