“Removing financial barriers to scalp cooling is critical to our ability to help more patients, and these new CPT codes are the first step toward health care equity. We are pleased that the AMA has taken this important next step to create a pathway toward insurance reimbursement for scalp cooling,” said William Cronin, Dignitana CEO. “There is still work to be done with insurance companies, but we will now have the coding needed to pursue coverage with health plans throughout the United States. This is a milestone worth celebrating and an important recognition of how far we have come since 2015 when Dignitana first introduced FDA-cleared scalp cooling to the United States. Most importantly, we are looking forward to bringing our solution to more patients so they can meet the challenges of cancer treatment with dignity.”
“The loss of hair from chemotherapy can be a devastating part of cancer treatment and many patients balance medical decisions based on the desire to keep their hair. As the insurance providers continue to evaluate scalp cooling for coverage, they should note both the efficacy of the treatment as well as the improved quality of life that were demonstrated in the Dignitana Pivotal Trial,” said Hope S. Rugo, MD, Professor of Medicine and Director of Breast Oncology and Clinical Trials Education at the University of California, San Francisco Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.
On January 1, 2021, the two new scalp cooling codes will be introduced as Category III CPT codes, a distinction used for emerging technologies to allow data collection as these new services become better established. It is then up to each insurance provider to determine whether they will add scalp cooling to their insurance coverage.
Redeye will interview Dignitana CEO William Cronin later this week and post the video on their website.
This is information that Dignitana AB (publ) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, by the above contact, for publication at 1845 CET on 30 October 2020.