The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Q-linea’s ASTar® System meets the cost criterion for New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP) funding, based on the three patient cohorts analysed. Public comments were invited on the proposal through June 10, 2024. Following this public comment period, a final rule will be announced later this summer. When granted, funding will be effective for three years, from October 2024 through September 2027.

The NTAP reimbursement would be available to US hospitals for Medicare patients; the proposed amount is USD 97.50 per patient. This is a further indication of the value delivered to patients and healthcare systems by ASTar, with the potential for improved clinical outcomes and reduced overall system cost.

Jim Kathrein, VP of US Commercial Operations, stated, “We are proud to see the potential of ASTar recognized by the CMS, and are grateful for the support this add-on funding provides, which will enable our end-users in hospitals and labs to roll out the technology more quickly in the confidence that much of the cost will be immediately recovered.  Ultimately, we expect widespread adoption of Q-linea’s rapid AST solution will lead to lower overall costs for treating sepsis patients with benefits to all stakeholders, not least the patients receiving improved care.”

The ASTar® System is a new, fully automated system for rapid antimicrobial susceptibility testing (AST). The proprietary AST technology is based on broth microdilution (BMD), optimized for high sensitivity and short time-to-result, delivering phenotypic AST with true minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) results from positive blood cultures in approximately six hours. The ASTar Instrument and ASTar BC G- Consumable kit are FDA 510(k) cleared. For more information, please visit qlinea.com.