Neurosurgery Calls on Congress to Delay AUC Imaging Program

Organized neurosurgery has long advocated that Medicare's Appropriate Use Criteria (AUC) Program for advanced diagnostic imaging will place an excessive burden on physicians across a broad range of specialties with little evidence of clinical benefit. Reiterating this message, on Nov. 6, the AANS and the CNS sent a letter to Congress, urging it to delay the program. The letter asks for the delay to "allow for a thoughtful and long overdue re-examination of the program" and points out that this added regulatory burden is the "last thing physicians need as they struggle through the COVID-19 pandemic."