Medical Physicist Michael Mills Named to Medicare Coverage Committee

COLLEGE PARK, Md., April 5, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) is pleased to announce that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has named AAPM member Michael D. Mills, Ph.D., M.S.P.H., to serve a two-year term on the Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee (MEDCAC). Dr. Mills will serve his first term beginning June 1, 2011, and ending May 31, 2013.

MEDCAC reviews and evaluates medical literature, technology assessments and examines data and information on effectiveness and appropriateness of medical items and services that are covered or eligible for coverage under Medicare. The Committee also advises the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the CMS Administrator as part of Medicare's coverage evidence development activities.

"As an active member of AAPM, Dr. Mills has proven to be a leader in the field by participating in a number of committees addressing Medicare payment and coverage; health care economics; health services research and manpower issues," AAPM President J. Anthony Seibert said. "His multiple board certifications uniquely qualify him as a 'technical expert' in imaging, nuclear medicine and therapeutic physics modalities that not only apply to radiology and radiation oncology but also include cardiology, urology, orthopedics, and other non-radiology specialties. He will bring invaluable advice and insights to the Committee."

Dr. Mills currently serves as Chief of Physics and Associate Professor at the University of Louisville Brown Cancer Center. He is a hospital-based medical physicist with clinical experience in such technologies as Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, Image Guided Radiation Therapy, Stereotactic Radiosurgery, Helical Tomotherapy, Intraoperative Radiotherapy, High Dose Rate Brachytherapy, and others. He is a nationally known expert regarding procedural and manpower issues in radiation oncology. He has been an active member of the AAPM for more than thirty-five years and is a key leader in health policy and reimbursement issues. He has served on the AAPM Economics Committee from 2000-2002 and 2004 to present. Dr. Mills is Chair of the AAPM Professional Services Committee, a member of the Diagnostic Work and Workforce Study Subcommittee and served as Vice-Chair of the Professional Council from 2006 to 2010. He recently served on the Federal Advisory Panel on Ambulatory Payment Classification Groups from 2007 through 2010, and served as Chair of the Data Subcommittee.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity to participate on the MEDCAC," Dr. Mills said. "I look forward to evaluating medical evidence to ensure that new technologies covered by Medicare are effective and provide high quality services to beneficiaries.  There is no lack of clever innovation in the array of new devices, drugs and procedures available in the medical marketplace.  Medicare beneficiaries derive special benefit from those emerging technologies that are proving to be relatively cost- efficient as well as effective."

The AAPM is a scientific and professional organization, founded in 1958, composed of more than 7,000 scientists whose clinical practice is dedicated to ensuring accuracy, safety and quality in the use of radiation in medical procedures such as medical imaging and radiation therapy. Medical physicists, as they are generally known, are uniquely positioned across medical specialties due to their responsibility to connect the physician to the patient through the use of radiation producing technology in both diagnosing and treating people. The responsibility of the medical physicist is to assure that the radiation prescribed in imaging and radiation therapy is delivered accurately and safely. One of the primary goals of the AAPM is the identification and implementation of improvements in patient safety for the medical use of radiation in imaging and radiation therapy. To learn more about AAPM, visit www.aapm.org.

Contact: Lynne A. Fairobent
Manager of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs
American Association of Physicists in Medicine
phone: 301-209-3364
cell: 703-626-8556
email: [email protected] 

SOURCE American Association of Physicists in Medicine