Washington, D.C. – The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition (AMIC) today underscored the inclusion of physician-developed appropriate use criteria (AUC) in the recently passed legislation to extend the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) patch for 12 months in response to a JAMA Internal Medicine article that compiled a list of “low value” medical imaging procedures.

“By including AUC in the new law, policymakers have heeded the advice of the broader medical community by laying the foundation for patient-centered, evidence-based care,” said Tim Trysla, executive director of AMIC. “The best way to ensure that patients receive the right scan at the right time is for Medicare to encourage physicians and patients to make treatment decisions that best suit individualized needs and circumstances – not by taking certain life-saving diagnostic imaging services out of context and broadly categorizing them as ‘low value.’”

Data have proven that AUC empower physicians and patients and drive appropriate use of medical imaging more effectively than across-the-board Medicare reimbursement cuts that indiscriminately restrict patient access. The SGR patch requires ordering providers to consult AUC when prescribing advanced imaging procedures for Medicare patients as of Jan. 1, 2017.

AMIC has long stressed the importance of working with the physician community within the field of diagnostic imaging through the implementation of AUC and looks forward to working with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other stakeholders to implement these quality and safety measures.

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The Access to Medical Imaging Coalition represents physicians, medical providers, and patient organizations throughout the U.S. It also includes health technology firms that manufacture imaging equipment and supplies and that employ tens of thousands of workers. Thus, AMIC represents those who develop medical imaging technologies, those who apply it, and those who benefit from it.