Reductions in Reimbursement and Relative Value Units for Interventional Radiology Procedures: Trends from 2011 to 2021 Compared with Those for Other Physician Specialties

Abstract

Purpose: To compare recent trends in Medicare reimbursement and relative value units (RVUs) for interventional radiology (IR) procedures similar to those performed by non-IR specialties.

Materials and methods: Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Physician Fee Schedule for facility reimbursement and RVU component values for 23 commonly performed single Current Procedural Terminology IR procedures were compared with similar procedures or procedures for similar indications performed by non-IR specialties between 2011 and 2021.

Results: The work RVU component decreased in 18 of 23 (78.3%) IR procedures compared with 6 of 23 (26.1%) similar procedures performed by non-IR specialties. The largest change in single RVU component was a 19.2% reduction in practice expense RVU for IR compared with a 16.5% reduction for similar procedures performed by non-IR specialties.

Conclusions: As a specialty, IR experienced a disproportionately greater reduction in reimbursement and RVU valuation for a range of comparable procedures performed by non-IR specialties.