Dr Aleksandar Krunic Discusses the Reimbursement Issues of Mohs Surgery

Reimbursement issues surrounding Mohs surgery are getting worse, which provides a challenge for surgeons who would perform the procedure, explained Aleksandar L. Krunic, MD, PhD, during the 25th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress, held September 28 to October 2, in Vienna, Austria. During Mohs surgery, thin layers of cancer-containing skin are progressively removed and examined until only cancer-free tissue remains.

He speculated that the reason for the lowered reimbursement rate may be because the surgery was performed more often than necessary or that the proper indications were not specified as they are now.

"Generally, the reimbursement rate is decreasing for many things, not just Mohs surgery," Krunic said. "However, in Mohs surgery, if we remove the tumor we can run into bigger defects that potentially require more reconstruction, longer reconstruction, and those are the problems where we may not have enough proper attending surgeons to do it because the reimbursement rate ... is much lower."