Medicare Look to UDI Acceptance for Billing

In a policy turn-about, Medicare is recommending that unique device identifiers be included in medical billing records.

Earlier this year, lawmakers had pushed the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to work with the FDA to incorporate unique device identifiers into insurance claims forms, saying it would improve postmarket surveillance and curb waste.

CMS and the FDA now appear to be on the same page with that messaging. In a recent letter to the Accredited Standards Committee X12, CMS Acting Administrator Andrew Slavitt and FDA Commissioner Robert Califf urged the committee to revisit its business requirements to support capturing UDI on claim forms for high-risk devices. — Tamra Sami