GAO suggests Medicare consider prior authorization for MRIs and CT scans

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) is suggesting that Medicare consider using prior authorization for MRIs and CT scans as a means of cutting costs, reports the Wall Street Journal Health Blog. Medicare has already tried cutting costs related to imaging by looking through data for unnecessary claims and educating practitioners about only using imaging when necessary. However, the GAO suggests that Medicare implement prior authorization, which would require that physicians get permission from a patient's insurer to cover the imaging.

Recent trends show that use of imaging is up, and that some physicians make a large amount of money from the Medicare revenue related to imaging. Many physicians, however, say this practice may lead to more physicians circumventing the system and sending their patients to the ER instead. Blogger Kevin Pho, who write his own blog Kevin, M.D., feels that way.

To read the blog article, click here.

[ via Patient Safety Monitor ]