New policy on endorsing products and services

13 July 2023

The ASA Board has approved a new policy that sets out how the association responds to requests for expert opinion about Medicare billing, products and services. Read the Endorsements and requests for expert opinion policy

The policy responds to the increasing number of requests received by the ASA to assess new products and services and to make determinations about whether Medicare billing criteria are met by particular devices.

In summary, the policy states:

• The ASA does not endorse products or services
• We do not provide expert opinion for the purposes of marketing a product or service
• We will provide an expert opinion as part of evidence-based government regulatory processes such as those undertaken by the Medicare Services Advisory Council, Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Council or Therapeutic Goods Administration. 

The policy reiterates that responsibility for ensuring Medicare criteria are met lies with the billing physician. It will be the physician who will need to defend billing practices to the Medicare Compliance Division or the Professional Services Review Committee if a question arises, and the physician may be required to repay amounts billed when criteria are not met. Statements from the ASA cannot be relied upon to defend billing practices as there's no obligation for the Medicare Compliance Division or the Professional Services Review Committee to reach the same view as the ASA about whether criteria are met or not. It is important that we don't give members false reassurance when the Medicare Compliance Division or the Professional Services Review Committee may take a different view. 

This policy is available for reference on the Policies page in the Members' Area of this website.