The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2016 is the single most important piece of legislation that healthcare professionals should consider.
From the terms of the Act, it seems clear that the administration is on a march to ensure that as many people adopt digital radiography (DR) as soon as possible. They’re so intent on ensuring wider adoption of DR that they penalize service providers for sticking with computed radiography equipment or film X-rays.
While DR offers significant advantages over CR and analog X-ray equipment, the financial aspect introduced by the Consolidated Appropriations Act makes it even more important that you upgrade.
The Terms of The Consolidated Appropriations Act
The Act is still considered as one of the most ambitious plans to improve the healthcare industry with greater acceptance of the latest technology. The terms of the bill include:
- From 2017 onwards anyone using film X-ray will bear a deduction of 20% on all Medicare reimbursements for X-ray procedures.
- Anyone using computed radiography will bear a deduction of 7%.
- The deductions for using CR after 2023 will be increased to 10%.
It was hoped that healthcare providers would adopt DR when faced with the prospects of financial penalties. This strategy proved quite successful, considering the growth of the digital radiography market in the United States—but there are still some who have not made the switch. Continuing to do so will only increase the financial burdens on your facility and will also increase the risk of being left behind by the competition.
The Cost of Sticking with CR or Film X-Rays
The American Association of Orthopedic Surgeons published a one-page report stating the potential losses from continuing with CR. According to the report, service providers who use CR will have lost $96,000 by 2023 if they don’t upgrade to DR immediately—these are cumulative losses from 2018 to 2023. After 2023, annual losses will amount to $27,568.
The AAOS, though, is unsupportive of the bill because they think that DR upgrades are too expensive for service providers to adopt. They cite expenses from between $80,000–$100,000 for a DR setup, but that’s really an exaggeration of the true cost. At ExamVue, we offer retrofit solutions that cost around $40,000 and don’t require any major overhauls to existing infrastructure. Our solutions offer all of the advantages of a new DR setup at only a fraction of the cost.
ExamVue develops high-quality medical imaging solutions, ranging from digital X-ray panels down to integrative PACS. Our digital radiography equipment delivers clear imaging and we offer digital X-ray solutions for chiropractors, podiatrists, orthopedists and other medical practitioners. To place an order or learn more, get in touch with us today at our website or by calling at (516) 654-6955.
