Imaging Request Preapproval

From MSNBC:

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Wisconsin will require doctors to get prior approval for some imaging services starting in March 2006 to stem the increasing cost of those services, a move that likely will be unpopular with doctors.

Physicians ordering outpatient CT and PET scans, MRIs, and nuclear cardiology services for Blue Cross members will have to get approval via the Internet or from a call center, said Dr. Lowell Keppel, medical director for Blue Cross. The authorization will be required only for outpatient services and not for imaging scans performed in the emergency room or in urgent care, he said.