Soon there also can be a risk for hospitals that don’t use 3D printing, says Lisa Baird, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Reed Smith in Los Angeles. As the technology becomes more widespread, it could become the standard of care in some circumstances to create your own model or tool, she notes.
“If you are not able to make your own, you can be said to have fallen behind the times and failing to meet the standard of care,” Baird says. “This won’t happen overnight, but as the best heart surgeons in the country use this 3D modeling more and more, I think we will see it become an expected part of treatment.”
Reimbursement also becomes an issue with 3D printing, notes Farah Tabibkhoei, JD, an attorney with the law firm of Reed Smith in Los Angeles. “Reimbursement continues to be an obstacle because 3D printing is such a new technology. In order for it to be reimbursed, you have to show that it is medically necessary and provides a substantial clinical benefit,” Tabibkhoei says. “While it’s been said that 3D printing will shorten procedure times and offer benefits to the patient, there isn’t enough long-term data to show that. So at the moment, we’re seeing a lot of 3D printing used in academic medicine, where they have grant funding, but we haven’t seen it be eligible for reimbursement.”
SOURCES:
-
Lisa Baird, JD, Reed Smith, Los Angeles. Telephone: (213) 457-8036. Email: [email protected].
-
Farah Tabibkhoei, JD, Reed Smith, Los Angeles. Telephone: (213) 457-8219. Email: [email protected].
