While CMS proposed removing 258 recently added procedures from the ASC-payable list in its 2022 proposed payment rule, another policy change would add some procedures and improve payment for hundreds of others in the outpatient setting.
CMS proposed granting device-intensive surgery status to procedures where the device is 30 percent of the ASC procedure rate, lowering the threshold for procedures to receive extra pay because costs for associated devices are so steep. Its current policy classifies device-intensive status as procedures where device costs exceed 30 percent of the hospital outpatient department rate, which is higher than the ASC rate.
"ASCA has long asked for adequate reimbursement of codes that involve significant device costs, and a policy in this proposed rule would more appropriately cover the costs of the devices ASC physicians often implant in patients," said William Prentice, CEO of Ambulatory Surgery Center Association told Becker's. "If adopted, we expect this policy to add more than 60 device-intensive procedures to the ASC setting and provide more adequate payment for more than 440 codes."
To read more about how the proposed rule would affect ASCs, click here.