Benzinga | Jul 14, 2021 06:03AM EDT

iRhythm Technologies Highlights And Comments On Centers For Medicare And Medicaid Services 2022 Proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

iRhythm Technologies, Inc. (NASDAQ:IRTC), a leading digital healthcare solutions company focused on the advancement of cardiac care, today provided comment on the recently released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services ("CMS") Calendar Year 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule (the "Proposed Rule"). The Proposed Rule was released on July 13, 2021, and includes proposed, updated payment policies, payment rates, and other provisions for services furnished under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule ("MPFS") on or after January 1, 2022. The Proposed Rule is followed by a public comment period which will culminate with CMS' release of a Final Rule, which is expected to be announced by early November for implementation on January 1, 2022. The policies announced in the Proposed Rule are therefore subject to change.



The Proposed Rule included commentary for Category I Current Procedural Terminology ("CPT") code sets related to long-term continuous electrocardiogram ("ECG") monitoring and recording that iRhythm uses to seek reimbursement for its Zio XT service. In the Proposed Rule, CMS did not propose national rates and proposed to continue with contractor pricing for CPT codes 93241, 93243, 93245 and 93247 for calendar year 2022.

CMS included a request for information to support future rulemaking to establish a uniform national payment for long-term continuous ECG monitoring and is also soliciting public comment to better understand the resource costs for services involving the use of innovative technologies, including software algorithms and artificial intelligence. iRhythm intends to provide comments during the open comment period and looks forward to continuing to engage with CMS in the calendar year 2022 MPFS rulemaking process.

In addition, iRhythm will continue working with Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) to establish pricing for these codes. iRhythm remains engaged with all of the MACs and is working with other industry participants to submit additional cost data on long-term continuous ECG monitoring for consideration to establish appropriate local rates. iRhythm cannot provide certainty at this time on the potential outcome of the discussions with the MACs or on the timing of any action to be taken.

"We appreciate CMS' ongoing focus on developing a national rate for continued access to long-term continuous ECG monitoring services for Medicare beneficiaries. We are looking forward to continuing to work with CMS to establish national rates for long-term continuous ECG monitoring," said Doug Devine, Interim CEO. "We are actively reviewing the CMS' Proposed Rule and will provide additional commentary on our second quarter conference call in early August," concluded Devine.