Imaging Clinical Decision Support
As of January 1, 2020, CMS requires that physicians and advanced practice providers consult a clinical decision support system when ordering advanced imaging procedures in all care settings. This requirement applies to studies performed for Medicare patients at Franklin Community Health Network, Maine Medical Center, Pen Bay Medical Center and Southern Maine Health Care. Advanced imaging studies ordered at critical access hospitals are exempt from this requirement. This regulation applies to:
- Computed Tomography (CT)
- Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
- Nuclear Medicine
- Positron emission tomography (PET)
Because of this new regulation, medical secretaries, medical assistants and nurses (with the exception of the emergency department) will no longer be able to sign CT, MRI, Nuclear Medicine and PET scan orders. Physicians and advance practice providers must sign all orders for these imaging services. Other clinical staff will still be able to pend orders for providers to sign.
MaineHealth has implemented an imaging clinical decision support system called CareSelect into Epic, our electronic health record system. Providers associated with MaineHealth but who do not have access to Epic should follow the instructions below to access CareSelect.