SAN FRANCISCO – Dermatologists and dermatologic surgeons risk a decreased reimbursement value for Mohs surgery if they don’t review the published criteria on its appropriate use, according to Dr. Sumaira Aasi.
Although it can be difficult, it is worth the effort to convince some patients that electrodessication, a curettage procedure, or some other management strategy is appropriate for their skin lesions, she said at the annual meeting of the Pacific Dermatologic Association.
"The reason is, at the end of the day, we might be killing the goose that laid the golden egg ourselves" if too many Mohs surgeries are done for inappropriate reasons, said Dr. Aasi of Stanford (Calif.) University.
SDr. Aasi urged the audience at the meeting to study criteria published in 2012 for the appropriate use of Mohs surgery, and to pay particular attention to scenarios deemed inappropriate for the procedure (J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 2012;67:531-50).
There are an estimated 4 million nonmelanoma skin cancers in the United States each year, and the use of Mohs surgery increased by 400% from 1995 to 2009, Dr. Aasi said (Dermatol. Clin. 2012;30:167-75).
Some experts argue that the increase is a response to the increase in skin cancer cases, and others say the increasing number of Mohs surgeons is driving the rising rate of the procedure. "Regardless, it’s a problem," Dr. Aasi said.
Federal reimbursement programs don’t care if there is an epidemic of skin cancer, she said. If a surgery is being "overused," it is considered overvalued, and reimbursement rates are subject to change, she explained.
The top two CPT codes flagged by the federal government as potentially misvalued in the July 19, 2013, Federal Register were codes 17311 for Mohs surgery on the face, head, and neck and 17313 for Mohs surgery on the trunk and extremities, Dr. Aasi noted.
The 2012 appropriate-use criteria were created to help maintain the value of Mohs surgery in Medicare reimbursements, Dr. Aasi said. The American Academy of Dermatology, the American Society of Dermatologic Surgery, the American College of Mohs Surgery, and the American Society of Mohs Surgery convened a consensus panel of eight Mohs surgeons and nine non-Mohs surgeons. The panel considered 270 clinical scenarios and rated 74% appropriate for Mohs surgery, 17% inappropriate, and 9% uncertain, meaning there were conflicting data in the literature or not enough information to make a determination of the appropriateness of Mohs surgery in that scenario.
"I still think that Mohs surgeons in this panel were a little highly represented," Dr. Aasi said. Overall, the indications the panel deemed appropriate for Mohs surgery were "pretty generous," she added.
The consensus panel was asked to implicitly consider cost in deciding on the appropriateness of Mohs surgery for each scenario. "It’s an implicit consideration but a very important consideration," said Dr. Aasi.
Invasive melanoma was not included in the scenarios because if its complexity, but some scenarios did include melanoma in situ or lentigo maligna melanoma. The scenarios included different body areas, aggressive or nonaggressive skin cancers, tumor size, and the patient’s immune status. Agreement by at least 12 panel members was considered a consensus on the use of Mohs surgery.
Examples of scenarios that were considered inappropriate for Mohs surgery included nonaggressive basal cell or squamous cell carcinomas smaller than 2 cm on the trunk or extremities. Other lesions deemed inappropriate for Mohs included primary actinic keratosis (AK) with focal squamous cell cancer in situ, bowenoid AK, or squamous cell carcinoma in situ AK-type, labels that Dr. Aasi found "worrisome" because their definitions are unclear.
"As a Mohs surgeon, I found it a little surprising that they had to consider scenarios where actinic keratoses were being considered a possibility for Mohs surgery," she said.
Physicians can use the appropriate-use criteria to talk with other health care providers, third-party payers, and patients, said Dr. Aasi. Talking with patients can be most difficult, because if they’ve heard of Mohs surgery, they often want "the technique where I [the patient] know right away that I’m going to be clear," she said.
When Mohs surgery is inappropriate, "I try to convince them that, no, you don’t need it. It’s like an atomic bomb being used to kill a flea," she said.
The appropriate-use criteria do not compare different treatment modalities with Mohs surgery, Dr. Aasi emphasized, but they aim to state simply whether or not Mohs surgery would be appropriate in selected scenarios.
"I urge everyone to read" the criteria, she said.
Dr. Aasi reported having no financial disclosures.
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