New Technology Add-On Payment (NTAP) for Viz LVO: a win for stroke care

Authors

Ameer E. Hassan, The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-6-2020

Abstract

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently granted a New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP) for Viz ContaCT (Viz LVO) by Viz.ai, Inc, an applied artificial intelligence healthcare company.1 This is the first time CMS has reimbursed an artificial intelligence (AI)-based software using this designation. It applies to Viz.ai’s acute ischemic stroke product, Viz LVO, officially known as Viz ContaCT, under which the ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-PCS) procedure code 4A03×5D was established. Viz ContaCT is an AI-based system that creates a parallel alert system whenever it detects a large vessel occlusion (LVO) on a computed tomography angiogram. The images are viewable on a mobile application which combines HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act)-compliant group messaging functionality with a mobile PACS Viewer. Users can view the images, make triage decisions, and communicate with other members of the care team through chat functionality.

Beyond the specific designation, this decision may have far-reaching implications for stroke care and for reimbursement of AI-enabled applications.

Comments

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.

Recommended Citation

Hassan A. E. (2020). New Technology Add-On Payment (NTAP) for Viz LVO: a win for stroke care. Journal of neurointerventional surgery, neurintsurg-2020-016897. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1136/neurintsurg-2020-016897

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

Publication Title

Journal of neurointerventional surgery

DOI

10.1136/neurintsurg-2020-016897

Academic Level

faculty

Mentor/PI Department

Neurology