On Monday, Aug. 31, 2020, the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment (HOP Panel) made several recommendations during its statutorily required meeting. During the meeting there were presentations from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) staff and stakeholders. Stakeholders presented to the HOP Panel on various topics, including the inpatient only list (IPO) and radiopharmaceutical. One recommendation that the HOP Panel made of interest to radiology was the recommendation for CMS to pay separately for all diagnostic radiopharmaceuticals. Additionally, the HOP Panel recommended certain services be removed from the IPO list and converted into Comprehensive Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs).
CMS is seeking nominations to fill vacancies on the HOP Panel. If you have any questions regarding the HOP Panel, please email Christina Berry at cberry@acr.org.