Washington, D.C. – The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) – the leading trade association representing manufacturers of medical imaging equipment, radiopharmaceuticals, contrast media, and focused ultrasound therapeutic devices – remains discouraged that Congress has not acted to address the need for financial stability and predictability in the Medicare physician payment system, though applauds the inclusion of certain provisions from the year’s earlier Food & Drug Administration (FDA) user fee agreement.

“Economic headwinds are affecting physician providers, including radiologists, across the care continuum. A partial increase to the Medicare conversion factor still has the potential to create access to care challenges and negative real-world impacts for patients,” said Patrick Hope, executive director of MITA. “Congress should eliminate these cuts fully and work with stakeholders to find a long-term, predictable, and sustainable solution.”

MITA is encouraged to see one element of the user fee agreement package, a provision which instructs FDA to regulate contrast agents and radiopharmaceuticals as drugs, has been included in the end-of-year funding legislation package. Earlier this year, MITA commented that the current regulation of all medical imaging agents as drugs is correct, and that to reclassify these products as devices would violate the clear definitions of drugs and devices under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (FDCA) and the intent of the law.


About MITA
The Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA), a division of NEMA, is the collective voice of medical imaging equipment manufacturers, innovators, and product developers. It represents companies whose sales comprise more than 90 percent of the global market for advanced medical imaging technology.