Earlier this month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued the 2018 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Ambulatory Surgical Center Fee Schedule, which included updates to payment policies, payment rates and quality provisions for services furnished during the 2018 calendar year.

The 2018 reimbursement rates continue to place significant financial pressure on providers of dialysis vascular access services in office-based lab and vascular access center settings, while also significantly decreasing the financial difference between providing such services in an ambulatory surgery center.