Best Practices Guidelines on Radiology Benefits Management Programs

The principles described in this white paper apply to many provider-payor business and professional relationships. The development of this document is necessitated by business practices by some payors, radiology benefits management companies (RBMs), and providers that are arguably creating excessively restrictive and burdensome obstacles to the delivery of patient care. The purpose of this paper is to create a benchmark against which Radiology Benefits Management Programs (RBMPs) can be measured. This paper is not an endorsement of RBMs or their approach to the marketplace. The American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) believe that alternative processes, including order entry decision support and referring physician education, can provide a similar or greater economic and quality impact without the administrative complexities and economic burdens created by many of the RBMPs in place today.