Ambu Granted TPT Payment for its aScope 5 Broncho HD Single-Use Bronchoscope

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has granted Ambu Inc.’s aScope 5 Broncho HD a transitional pass-through (TPT) payment. TPT status enables incremental reimbursement payments for outpatient procedures performed with Ambu’s high-performance single-use bronchoscope. It is expected to remain in effect for 24 to 36 months.
 
The aScope 5 Broncho HD series is Ambu’s latest generation of single-use bronchoscope, joining a single-use portfolio now including 10 different bronchoscopy models designed to meet patient care needs in interventional pulmonology, critical care medicine, and anesthesia and airway management. TPT was granted to the aScope 5 Broncho HD series because it fit CMS criteria, which included demonstrating a substantial clinical improvement over existing single-use and reusable bronchoscopy technology.
 
“When Ambu launched the aScope 5 series in late 2022, our intent was to deliver on the request of healthcare providers for a superior single-use bronchoscope that could finally compare with advanced reusable devices,” Ambu North America President Steven Block said. “We’re appreciative of CMS recognizing this opportunity for expanding access to innovation for Medicare patients, as bronchoscopy is a key technology for the management of lower airway diseases—from lung cancer diagnosis to lung valve placements to post-lung transplant performance. Ambu is committed to offering providers and patients innovations that save lives and improves patient care.”
 
The decision by CMS to award transitional pass-through payment to Ambu was based on its application, product analysis, public commentary, and a review of the peer-reviewed research on single-use bronchoscopy and other single-use endoscopes that have already established TPT status. 
 
“TPT for single-use endoscopy has historically been about expanded access to safe, sterile single-use devices that have different cost structures than reusables,” said Christina Cool, senior director, Health Economics, Outcomes Research, and Market Access at Ambu USA. “In this case, the granting of TPT was also about the advanced performance currently unique to aScope 5 Broncho HD, which was necessary to meet the newness and significant clinical improvement criteria. We’re thrilled as this is a giant step in providing physicians with a superior technology to treat patients.”
 
Ambu’s aScope 5 Broncho HD is a single-use bronchoscopy system with high-performance functionality and imaging, combined with single-use’s distinct productivity and safety advantages. The aScope 5 Broncho HD is designed to perform the wide array of diagnostic, interventional, and therapeutic procedures crucial for pulmonology disease management, including the use of energy devices, endotherapy tools, and the BronchoSampler. It is compatible with both the full-HD Ambu aBox 2 display designed for OR integration, and the full-HD aView 2 Advance 2nd Generation portable display additional points of care availability. Both displays have EMR/EHR connectivity built-in thought the use of bi-directional modality PACS/DICOM worklists—enabling the capturing and sending of images and video.
 
Since 1937, Ambu has been rethinking medical solutions to save lives and improve patient care via its single-use endoscopy, anesthesia, and patient monitoring solutions. The company has provided a way to maintain or restore breathing in any environment with the world’s first self-inflating resuscitator, the Ambu Bag, which is still in use today. Headquartered in Copenhagen, Denmark, Ambu employs more than 4,500 workers in Europe, North America, and the Asia Pacific.