Reports Summarize Medicare and Medicaid Study Results from Yale University (Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department Insights From…

Reports Summarize Medicare and Medicaid Study Results from Yale University (Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department Insights From the 2012 Medicare National Payment Data Set)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Medicare and Medicaid. According to news reporting originating from New Haven, Connecticut, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "Point-of-care ultrasound is a valuable tool with potential to expedite diagnoses and improve patient outcomes in the emergency department. However, little is known about national patterns of adoption."

Our news editors obtained a quote from the research from Yale University, "This study examined nationwide point-of-care ultrasound reimbursement among emergency medicine (EM) practitioners and examined regional and practitioner level variations. Data from the 2012 Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Fee-forService Provider Utilization and Payment Data include all practitioners who received more than 10 Medicare Part B fee-for-service reimbursements for any Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code in 2012. Odds ratios (ORs) and descriptive statistics were calculated to assess relationships between ultrasound reimbursement and practice location, nearby presence of an EM residency, and time elapsed since practitioner graduation. Of 52,928 unique EM practitioners, 391 (0.7%) received limited ultrasound reimbursements for a total of 16,389 scans in 2012. Urban counties had an OR of 5.4 (95% confidence interval, 3.8-7.8) for receiving point-of-care ultrasound reimbursements compared to rural counties. Counties with an EM residency had an OR of 84.7 (95% confidence interval, 42.6-178.8) for reimbursement compared to counties without. The OR for receiving reimbursement was independent of medical school graduation year (P=.83); however, recent graduates performed more scans (P=.02). A small minority of EM practitioners received reimbursements for point-of-care ultrasound from Medicare beneficiaries. These practitioners were more likely to reside in urban and academic settings."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Future efforts should assess the degree to which our findings reflect either low point-of-care ultrasound use or low rates of billing for ultrasound examinations that are performed."

For more information on this research see: Use of Point-of-Care Ultrasound in the Emergency Department Insights From the 2012 Medicare National Payment Data Set. Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine, 2016;35(11):2467-2474. Journal of Ultrasound in Medicine can be contacted at: Amer Inst Ultrasound Medicine, Subscription Dept, 14750 Sweitzer Lane, Ste 100, Laurel, MD 20707-5906, USA.

The news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting M.K. Hall, Yale University, Sch Med, Dept. of Emergency Med, New Haven, CT, United States. Additional authors for this research include J. Hall, C.P. Gross, N.J. Harish, R. Liu, S. Maroongroge, C.L. Moore, C.C. Raio and R.A. Taylor.

Keywords for this news article include: New Haven, Connecticut, United States, North and Central America, Medicare and Medicaid, Health Policy, Medicare, Yale University.

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