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400%

1.What’s top of mind for you about the CY2026 proposals?

2.Your setting (select all that apply)

Hospital Outpatient Department – on-campus

Hospital Outpatient Department – off-campus (excepted/“grandfathered”)

Hospital Outpatient Department – off-campus (non-excepted)

Physician office

Independent Diagnostic Testing Facility (IDTF)

Other (free-text)

3.Medicare share of your vascular ultrasound volume

<25%

25–49%

50–75%

>75%

Unsure

4.Which services are a regular part of your Medicare work? (check all)

Carotid duplex (e.g., 93880/93882)

Transcranial Doppler (TCD) (e.g., 93886–93898)

Physiologic arterial testing (e.g., 93922-93924)

Dialysis access evaluation (e.g., 93990)

Venous duplex (e.g. 93970 bilateral/93971 unilateral/limited)

Complete bilateral physiologic studies, upper or lower extremity arteries, 3 or more levels: 93923 or lower extremity arteries at rest and following treadmill: 93924

Duplex scan of aorta, IVC, Iliacs, bypass grafts; complete study (93978)

Monitoring/ initial access mapping in ESRD patients: other codes such as 93985/6 may apply

5.For any that selected above, estimate the number of Medicare exams/months?

0-10

11-25

26-50

51-100

>100

6.Turning to APC’s: CMS assigns CPT codes for outpatient services to an Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) group. APCs are hierarchical, with different levels reflecting varying resource intensity and cost.

APC 5522: Level 2 Imaging without Contrast. This is for less complex, lower-cost imaging services(93931, 93971, 93979, 93926,)

APC 5523: Level 3 Imaging without Contrast. This is for more complex, higher-cost imaging services.(Example: 93880, 93925, 93930, 93970, 93975, 93078, 93925, 93930)

7.If you bill in HOPD, what is your current mix between APC 5522 vs 5523 for vascular ultrasound?

Mostly APC 5522 (>70%)

A mix (about 40–60% either way)

Mostly APC 5523 (>70%)

Not sure / N/A

8.For non-facility sites (physician office/IDTF): are you seeing OPPS cap–limited payments on any vascular ultrasound codes?

Yes

No

9.Comparator insight: carotid duplex vs echocardiography
Do you perform both exams in your organization?

Yes – carotid duplex and transthoracic echo (TTE)

Yes – carotid duplex and transesophageal echo (TEE)

Both TTE and TEE

No/Unsure

10.If Yes to the above question: Based on typical cases, overall resource intensity (time, staff, equipment/room) is:

Similar for carotid duplex and echo

Echo is higher than carotid duplex ( Unsure: TEE usually higher- should we differentiate?)

Carotid duplex is higher than echo

11.CMS has hinted at possible volume controls for Imaging Without Contrast APCs (5521–5524): if adopted in the future, The APC group would include a different level of imaging complexity, affecting reimbursement:

APC 5521: Level 1 Imaging without Contrast

APC 5522: Level 2 Imaging without Contrast

APC 5523: Level 3 Imaging without Contrast

APC 5524: Level 4 Imaging without Contrast

12.What would the expected impact on your HOPD program be:

Significant Negative

Moderate Negative

Minimal/none

Unsure

N/A

13.Name (Optional)

14.Organization (Optional)

15.Email (optional)