The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved an outpatient Transitional Pass-through Payment for the remed? System by Respicardia Inc. Remed? is an implantable device that uses phrenic nerve stimulation to treat central sleep apnea. This announcement follows the CMS New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP), granted to the remed? System in August, for procedures performed in an inpatient setting.

Transitional Pass-through Payment is a Medicare program designed to supplement the payment for innovative medical technologies that substantially improve the diagnosis or treatment of a disease in outpatient settings. The Pass-through Payment program will provide hospitals with additional reimbursement and will become effective on January 1, 2019.

“We are very pleased that CMS will extend supplemental reimbursement of the remed? System into the outpatient setting. The majority of remed? System procedures are performed in the outpatient setting, so we expect that this payment will provide substantial support to implanting centers,” says Peter Sommerness, president and CEO of Respicardia, in a release. “Equally important, we are pleased that CMS again recognized the remed? System as a substantial clinical improvement in the options available for the treatment of central sleep apnea. We are grateful to CMS for its pivotal role in supporting the accessibility of new technologies through improved reimbursement.”