Sacroiliac Joint Injections and Procedures Open Public Meeting - October 27, 2022 - JF Part A

Jocelyn Fernandez:
Hello everyone. My name is Jocelyn Fernandez, and I am one of the Medical Policy Specialists here at Noridian Healthcare Solutions. Before we begin the meeting, I would like to make a few announcements. This meeting will be recorded.

The audio recording and written transcript will be posted on our website following today's meeting. All lines are currently being muted and will remain muted throughout the meeting.

I will now turn this meeting over to our Contractor Medical Director, Dr. Eileen Moynihan, Dr. Moynihan, you may begin.

Dr. Eileen Moynihan:
Thank you very much, Jocelyn, and welcome to everyone who has decided to dial in.

I would like to say a few words about this particular policy.

The Sacroiliac Joint Injections and Procedures policy had a Multi-Jurisdictional CAC meeting of Subject Matter Experts that was held, as part of this policy development on March 10th, 2022, via teleconference, and was hosted by National Government Services, CGS Administrators, Noridian Healthcare Solutions, Palmetto GBA, and Wisconsin Physicians Service Insurance Corporation.

There is a recording of the transcript on our website.

This Sacroiliac Joint Injections is a uniquely challenging topic because this is a complex structure and the exact pattern of innervation is unclear. Pain from the SI joint can be variable, including severe pain.

The literature for sacroiliac joint pain is limited by a few placebo controlled randomized trials, lack of long-term data, inconsistencies in diagnostic criteria, assessment of outcomes, and technique of procedures, resulting in a high heterogeneity between the studies.

Careful evaluation of the medical literature and utilization of the best available evidence serves as the basis of our determinations and coverage and guidelines.

LCD coverage and guidelines were supplemented with the knowledge shared from our Subject Matter Expert panel.

So, we have received a few public comments already on the document.

We did not receive and request for anyone to give a presentation or speak. Jocelyn?

Jocelyn Fernandez:
All right. So, in closing, we would like to communicate the next steps in the policy development process.

The comment period for the proposed LCDs will remain open until November 12, 2022. All comments to be considered by our Medical Directors for the proposed LCD must be submitted in writing. Written comments can be e-mailed to policydraft@noridian.com or mailed to the address on your screen.

Comment information for our proposed LCDs, are located on our website at noridianmedicare.com. Upon review of the comments, our Medical Directors will either finalize or retire the proposed LCD. Responses to comments will be viewable in the Response to Comments article.

Please monitor our website or register for listserv notifications to be informed of actions taken on our proposed LCDs. I will now turn this meeting back to Dr. Moynihan for final remarks.

Dr. Eileen Moynihan:
Again, thank you, everyone, for your attendance. Please be sure that we get your written comments. As I said, we have already received a few from some of the societies. And so, the final document that will be posted will depend a lot on what your comments are, as well. So, thank you very much for your attendance.