ACR Part of Coalition to End Arbitrary Medicare Cuts

Dr. Alan H. Porter leads Porter Radiation Oncology in Sarasota, Florida, as director. He has directed these centers for more than four decades, and is also a founding trustee of Hospice Foundation of Englewood and former president of the Florida Radiological Society (FRS). Dr. Alan H. Porter has been recognized twice as part of the Best Doctors in America according to Woodard and White, and is board-certified by the American College of Radiology (ACR), an organization dedicated to advancing the science and practice of radiological care.

In December 2020, a large coalition of health care organizations encouraged Congress to strengthen the health care system in the United States by preventing Medicare payment cuts in any year-end legislation package. The coalition represents over a million non-physician and physician health care providers around the United States, and includes the ACR, the American College of Radiation Oncology, the American Academy of Audiology, and the American Medical Association.

The coalition’s recommendation came after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued their final 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). In it, the CMS failed to provide relief for the changes in non-physician and physician payments that will take effect on January 1, 2021.

This failure to address such concerns came despite members of Congress, patients, and providers stating that it was important to reduce payment cuts due to budget neutrality. These cuts would limit patient access to medically necessary services, specifically evaluation and management services. According to CMS’ new Medicare payment policies for this care, physicians and non-physician providers would receive a cut in service payments of up to 10 percent or more.

 

How Stereotactic Body Radiotherapy Works

A fellow of the American College of Radiology, Dr. Alan H. Porter is the director of Porter Radiation Oncology, a radiology oncology center in Sarasota, Florida. Alan Porter, MD, is facile with advanced cancer treatments including stereotactic radiotherapy.

Stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT), also called stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR), is an advanced type of tomotherapy that treats tumors in the body (excluding the central nervous system). The procedure channels a high dose of radiation to tumors from different angles and is often indicated for small early-stage tumors. With the aid of imaging tools such as CT and MRI, the position of the tumor(s) in the body is precisely mapped to ensure that only cells of the tumor are exposed to the high doses of the radiation beam. Normal tissues around the tumor receive a much lower dose than with other radiation treatments, which minimizes the risk of side effects.

The information that controls how cells reproduce is stored in their DNA. Generally, cancers occur in tissues that contain cells that carry a damaged version of such information. With stereotactic radiotherapy, the compromised DNA in each tumor cell is exposed to a level of radiation that damages the DNA further and turns off most of its features, including the ability to form another copy. This stops defective tumor cells from multiplying, which stops the growth of the tumor and results in its shrinkage.