RCM Imaging of Skin Granted Reimbursement Codes by CMS; Wider Adoption Likely

After more than two decades of effort, reflectance confocal microscopy (RCM) imaging of skin has been granted reimbursement codes by the US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

A report in Lasers in Surgery and Medicine highlights this 20-year journey, with an eye toward the next 20 years.

RCM imaging of skin is a successful non-invasive tool in identifying benign lesions that can spare patients a skin biopsy.  The RCM imaging procedure now has a granted category I current procedural terminology (CPT) reimbursement code, which may make it a more widely adopted procedure.

“Still much more work lies ahead toward wider dissemination, acceptance and adoption of RCM imaging,” says Milind Rajadhyaksha, PhD, a mechanical/optical engineer, an associate member of the faculty in dermatology, and directs a research program in confocal microscopy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, in a news release.

The article was selected as Editor’s Choice in the January 2017 issue of Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.