Washington, D.C. — Congressman Michael C. Burgess, M.D. (TX-26),  Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade, with colleagues Congressmen Tom Price, M.D. (GA-06) and Ami Bera, M.D. (CA-07), led a bipartisan letter to Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Secretary Burwell in support of the regulatory framework outlined in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2016 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule proposed rule to implement imaging appropriate use criteria (AUC) requirements within Medicare. 

The letter notes that the signatories, of which include a number of physicians and those with a background in medicine, are “strongly supportive of ensuring that physicians are armed with evidence-based tools to aid in diagnostic decision making.”

Further, the letter states that guidelines that are not developed by clinicians, providers or national medical professional societies, “do not rely upon the same rigorous development process and, therefore, are more reflective of consensus of medical opinions rather than rooted in clinical evidence."

A full copy of the letter to Secretary Burwell can be found here.