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Lots of products, few payments

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration includes nearly 900 products on itslist of approved artificial intelligence- and machine learning-enabled medical devices, the great majority of which are tailored to radiology needs. Despite this, AI algorithms are still not a mainstay within radiology departments.

This could be, in part, due to the lack of reimbursement for such technology and decreasing payments to the specialty in general. After adjusting for inflation, the American College of Radiology estimates that Medicare reimbursement to radiologists has plummeted nearly 32% since 2005.What's more, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has assigned payment for just around 10 of the AI/ML devices that are currently approved.

In the panel discussion, Jha said that if AI makes radiologists better or more efficient at their jobs, it should be adopted without getting too deep into return-on-investment (ROI) calculations because the return will be felt in other ways.

Joseph Cavallo, MD, MBA, an assistant professor of radiology and biomedical imaging at Yale School of Medicine, agreed, noting that the current absence of reimbursement should not deter stakeholders from exploring how AI can improve their practices. Reimbursement for the use of AI algorithms will be the exception more than the rule for a while, he said.

Some CPT codes have been created, but AI as a whole is going to have to be like PACS was for radiology for a while. Improving workflow and efficiency for radiologists now,will result in ROI and gains in the future, Cavallo suggested.

On an encouraging note, for those hoping to implement algorithms into their practice, Eliot Siegel, MD, FSIIM, chief ofimaging services at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, said that conversations related to payments for AI-based tools used during the diagnostic process are increasing at the federal level.

Like Jha, Siegel, believes that AI algorithms are on a similar path as PACS was.

It took a small number of years, but eventually people realized film wasn't practical anymore. The same will happen with AI, he said.

Read more about commercially available AI products at work below.

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If you build it, they will come: Experts believe reimbursement will follow AI implementation - Health Imaging