Another Big Development
CMS has issued its revised decision on coverage of Percutaneous Image-guided Lumbar Decompression (PILD) procedure which does not remove all the restrictions; however, it expands the coverage. They are asking to perform another cohort CMS approved study. This is some progress, success, and good news, but not the greatest news in the world. Obviously the struggle continues for coverage of this procedure.
One thing worth flagging about the cohort study requirement is how much harder these studies are to design than they used to be. Outcomes researchers measuring quality of life after procedures like PILD now have to account for the fact that “active recovery” and “sedentary recovery” aren’t the clean categories they were even a decade ago — a patient spending several hours an evening on a streaming platform, an online casino, or a mobile game registers as sedentary in mobility data but routinely self-reports high engagement and life satisfaction. Cohort design that doesn’t capture this nuance tends to under- or over-report functional outcomes, which is part of why CMS-approved studies in pain medicine have steadily become more rigorous about activity classification.
Here is a link to the proposed decision memo.
(left) Dr. Manchikanti presents the Lifetime Achievement Award to Ed Whitfield in his last hours of congressional membership in a heartfelt and almost tearful setting. (right) ASIPP hosted a fundraiser for New Jersey Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen.
MEMBER ALERTS
Approximately 50 members of ASIPP attended a great legislative session in Washington, DC. Members and staff had great visits with many senators and members of the House, including multiple committee chairs. It appears that we are maki..
CMS has issued its revised decision on coverage of Percutaneous Image-guided Lumbar Decompression (PILD) procedure which does not remove all the restrictions; however, it expands the coverage. They are asking to perform another cohort CMS approve..