ASE is working hard to ensure your voice is heard on issues related to legislative matters, regulatory issues, coding and reimbursement. To do so, ASE must maintain the Society’s seat in the American Medical Association (AMA) House of Delegates. To qualify, 25% of ASE’s U.S. physician members must also be members of the AMA.
The AMA provides a powerful voice in Congress, the courts, and federal agencies. Full delegate status provides ASE with a vote on important AMA policy within the HOD. ASE delegates take part in the HOD meetings were the AMA’s HOD sets its legislative and regulatory priorities the issues recently considered by the HOD are vast. Of particular interest to ASE are:
- MIPS and MACRA
- Site of Service Parity Policy
- The Appropriate Use Criteria Mandate
- MOC
- EHR/data standardization interoperable
- Immigration ban
- Maintaining appropriate payment for E&M visits with modifier 25 is applied
- Prior authorization
- Drug Shortages
Full delegate status provides ASE with advisor status to several key AMA committees, such as the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel, and the Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC). Echocardiographers thus have a seat at the table when determining fair and adequate valuation.
- Having advisor status to the CPT Editorial Panel, and the RUC, ASE worked to have a new interventional transesophageal echocardiography code approved, a strain code, 3D code and advocate for 93306 when reviewed.
- The ASE CPT team was also successful in getting acceptance of two new Category III codes. One code for myocardial strain imaging code, Category III 0399T, and the other for a Category III add-on code to report the performance of myocardial perfusion test with echocardiography
With full delegate status, ASE is updated and included in the AMA’s efforts, including:
- Offered the opportunity to sign on to legislative and regulatory communications from the AMA
- Briefed on legislative and regulatory developments by AMA staff
- Invited to participate in AMA sponsored workshops and workgroups
- Encouraged to share educational, regulatory and legislative resources
For more detailed information please read: The ABC’s of Payment for Cardiovascular Ultrasound Services and Why the AMA Matters .
To help ASE reach this critical goal, click here.
We urge you to join the AMA today to help us ensure that echo has a voice!