CMS Releases Final Rule for Radiation Oncology Model

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Sept. 18 issued a final rule establishing a new alternative payment model (APM) for radiation oncology (RO) services delivered to Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries. The RO model will make prospective, site neutral, bundled payments for 90-day radiotherapy (RT) episodes for 16 cancer types. The model is mandatory for physician group practices (PGPs), hospital outpatient departments (HOPD) and freestanding radiation therapy centers that deliver RT services in randomly selected areas of the country, and will begin Jan. 1. It will qualify as an Advanced APM and Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) APM under the Quality Payment Program (QPP). The RO model comes as the result of a congressional directive in the Patient Access and Medicare Protection Act (PAMPA) of 2015, which required the Department of Health and Human Services to report on the development of an APM for RT services.

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CMS Releases Final Rule for Radiation Oncology Model