Septermber 6 2012

New in this Issue

AAPM Report

New Report AvailableDose Calculation for Photon-Emitting Brachytherapy Sources with Average Energy Higher than 50 keV: Full Report of the AAPM and ESTRO

AAPM, SDAMPP, CAMPEP and ABR MOU

MOU on the Relative roles of SDAMPP, AAPM, CAMPEP, and ABR for the Education of Medical Physicists in the United States

Joint Commission

Medicare

Cost of 10-Year Medicare Physician Pay Freeze Decreases to $245B

AAPM Supports Revaluation of Weekly Medical Physics Consultation Code 77336

AAPM Submits Comments on 2013 Hospital Outpatient Proposed Rule

NCRP

NCRP releases Report 171 - Uncertainties in the Estimation of Radiation Risks and Probability of Disease Causation

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Meetings Calendar

Chapter Meetings:
September 2012 - April 2013

RSNA 2012: Registration and Housing Open for AAPM and RSNA Members

AAPM Website Updates

New Edition of AAPM NewsletterAAPM Newsletter - New Edition Now Available

2012 AAPM Annual Meeting CEC Evaluation SystemFeatured interviews from the AAPM Annual Meeting

Comments Requested ACR-AAPM Technical Standard For Management of the Use of Radiation in Fluoroscopic Procedures

Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) Module and Training Webinar Available to NIH Grantees

2013 AAPM Annual Meeting (Indianapolis IN) - Request for Proposals (RFP) for Symposia

American Board of Radiology Implements ‘Continuous Certification’

ABR announces temporary acceptance of applications from medical physics students in non-CAMPEP-accredited educational programs

CRCPD announces publication of NEXT Computed Tomography 2005-06 Trifold

Awards & Honors Committee - Call for Nominations

AAPM on LinkedIn

Career Services & Committee Classifieds

Career Services Ads as of September 6, 2012

AAPM Committee Classifieds as of September 6, 2012

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Medicare

Cost of 10-Year Medicare Physician Pay Freeze Decreases to $245B

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently reported that freezing Medicare physician payments for the next decade would cost the federal government $245 billion, a substantially lower estimate than the $316 billion cost estimated in January... [see full article]

AAPM Supports Revaluation of Weekly Medical Physics Consultation Code 77336

AAPM recently submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding the 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), which includes payment policy for physicians and freestanding cancer centers. Specifically, AAPM supports review and revaluation of the Continuing Medical Physics Consultation code 77336, which was last reviewed for the 2003 MPFS... [see full article]

AAPM Submits Comments on 2013 Hospital Outpatient Proposed Rule

In an August 29th letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), AAPM submitted comments on the following 2013 proposals that apply to radiation oncology and medical physics services provided in a hospital outpatient department:

  • AAPM does not support the geometric mean-based relative payment weight proposal.
  • AAPM supports the proposal to unpackage intraoperative radiation therapy codes (IORT) 77424 and 77425 and pay them separately beginning in 2013.
  • AAPM recommends that CMS maintain the current 2012 APC assignments for proton beam therapy codes 77520, 77522, 77523, and 77525 for 2013.
  • AAPM supports the CMS proposal to pay hospitals for the additional cost of using Tc-99m from a non-highly enriched uranium source.

    To view the AAPM comment letter to CMS click here.

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