Directs the Secretary to establish an Office of Technology and Innovation in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, headed by a Director charged with promoting access by Medicare beneficiaries to new medical technologies and innovations and improving overseeing implementation of coverage determinations.
Provides for annual adjustments to Medicare payment systems for changes in technology and medical practice using internal and external data with respect to: (1) the inpatient prospective payment system (PPS); (2) the physician fee schedule; (3) ambulatory surgical center payments; and (4) the outpatient PPS.
Revises requirements for the recognition of the costs of new medical services and technologies under the inpatient hospital PPS. Mandates a mechanism under which new medical services and technologies are incorporated into such PPS.
Directs the Secretary to establish by regulation a process for the assignment of inpatient hospital codes each calendar quarter for new medical services and technologies.
Requires the Secretary to establish a process for the assignment of Health Care Financing Administration Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) Level II codes each calendar quarter for new medical services and technologies.
Amends the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 to provide for permanent retention of HCPCS Level III codes.
Revises requirements for the use of carriers for administration of benefits with respect to the inherent reasonableness of valid data, including valid retail data.