ASTRO Industry and Stakeholder Engagement Policy

The American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) is actively involved in coding, reimbursement, payment and coverage policies of interest to practicing radiation oncologists.

ASTRO works in coordination with the American Medical Association’s Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) Editorial Panel to establish new radiation oncology CPT codes and works with the AMA/Specialty Society Relative Value System Update Committee to assign relative value units to new and already established radiation oncology CPT codes. The society also provides coding, billing and coverage guidance to members as well as public and private payers. These are critical functions that allow members to bill properly for services rendered and to receive reimbursement for such services.

ASTRO welcomes opportunities to engage with industry and other stakeholders in a transparent manner. Guidelines for submitting presentation requests to members of relevant ASTRO committees are detailed below.

Request Submission

All requests will be submitted electronically to ASTRO staff and must include the following information:

• Name and location of the company.
• Name and documentation regarding the technology, which would include FDA approval status, marketing material and other relevant information.
• Brief description of reimbursement question or issue.
• Name of speaker(s) and any other representative(s) to be involved in the presentation.
• Completion of financial disclosure forms for all participating individuals.
• Current literature in the area (bibliography and electronic versions of all articles).

All requests will be considered on a case-by-case basis. The relevance of the issue to ASTRO members and the patients they serve will be the primary consideration in approving a request. Each approved requester will be allotted 30 minutes for the presentation and Q and A.

Scheduling Requests and the Presentation

Once a request has been approved, industry will be given two presentation opportunities throughout the year: January and June. These meetings will be held via web conferencing software. Requests must be received by November 15 for a January presentation time slot and by April 15 for a June presentation time slot. Any PowerPoint presentation must be emailed to ASTRO staff at least one week of scheduled presentation.

All requests and questions should be directed to Anne Hubbard, ASTRO's Director of Health Policy, via email or at 703-839-7394.