The ROOT Act modifies how Medicare tracks whether doctors follow appropriate use guidelines when ordering imaging services like CT scans and MRIs. Starting January 1, 2026, the bill requires decision-support technology providers to report ordering data directly to the government rather than just to individual doctors, and it expands exemptions from these requirements for preventive screenings, small practices, rural areas, and clinical trials. The legislation shifts from penalizing individual "outlier" doctors to identifying and studying "low compliant" ordering professionals on an annual basis, with the Secretary required to submit a report to Congress by 2031 recommending whether new enforcement mechanisms—such as prior authorization or payment adjustments—should be implemented for doctors who don't follow appropriate use criteria. This change aims to give the government better data on imaging utilization patterns while reducing administrative burden on smaller and rural practices.
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