Federal Employee Program® AIM radiology prior authorization review reminder

This is a courtesy reminder that diagnostic imaging services requested on or after November 1, 2021, Empire BlueCross BlueShield (“Empire”) Federal Employee Program (FEP) transitioned to AIM Specialty Health_® (AIM). These services require prior authorization to determine medical necessity prior to rendering the service for Empire Federal Employee members. 

 

Your practice can benefit from participation in several ways, including:

• Improving the clinical appropriateness of imaging services through the application of evidence-based guidelines in an efficient and effective review process. Empire Federal Employee Program (FEP) will be utilizing the FEP Medical Policy to review for medical necessity. In the absence of a controlling FEP Medical Policy, medical necessity determinations will be made using <Empire Coverage Guidelines><Empire Medical Policy>, and/or AIM Clinical Guidelines.
• Maximizing a health plan’s network value through a wide range of solutions including provider assessment tools, cost and quality transparency and reporting.
• Engaging consumers in understanding the range of choices they have in selecting imaging providers and increasing their ability to make informed decisions.

 

As of November 1, 2021, providers are required to contact AIM prior to rendering the service to obtain pre-service review for the following non-emergency modalities:

• Nuclear imaging, including myocardial perfusion imaging, cardiac blood pool imaging, infarct imaging and positron emission tomography (PET) myocardial imaging
• Computed tomography (CT), including CT angiography, derived fractional flow reserve, structural CT and quantitative evaluation of coronary calcification
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
• Magnetic resonance angiography (MRA)
• Magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS)
• Functional MRI (fMRI)
• Stress echocardiography (SE)*
• Resting echocardiography (TTE)*
• Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE)*

 

How to submit a request for review:

As a reminder, providers can submit requests for review or can verify order numbers using one of the following methods as a registered AIM portal provider:

• Register online: The AIM ProviderPortal^SM is available 24/7, fully interactive, and processes requests in real-time using clinical criteria. To register, go to https://aimspecialtyhealth.com/providerportal/.
• Register by phone: Call AIM Specialty Health toll-free at 866-789-0397, Monday – Friday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. CT

For more information about the Radiology Program and to help your practice get started go to: http://www.aimprovider.com/radiology.This website can also help you learn more about provider access to useful information and tools such as order entry checklists and clinical guidelines.

 

Empire Federal Employee Program values your participation in our network, as well as the services you provide. We look forward to working with you to help improve the health of our members.

 

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