The US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that Q-linea’s ASTar® System has been awarded NTAP funding. The NTAP reimbursement will be available to US hospitals for Medicare patients in the amount of USD 97.50 per eligible patient.

Funding will be effective for three years, from October 2024 through September 2027. Cases involving the use of the ASTar system that are eligible for new technology add-on payments will be identified by ICD-10-PCS procedure code XXE5X2A.

NTAP funding was awarded based on three criteria, including substantial clinical improvement, in addition to newness and cost. Rapid antibiotic susceptibility test results provided by ASTar for patients with bacteremia are expected to reduce time to optimal antibiotic therapy for these seriously ill patients.

Stuart Gander, CEO of Q-linea, stated, “We are grateful to CMS for this funding for US hospitals seeking to improve the quality of care and antimicrobial stewardship efforts for sepsis patients, who are some of the most critically ill patients they treat. We anticipate this designation will reduce time to adoption among innovative hospitals at the forefront of medical advancements.”