The Council for Urological Interests (CUI) is a 501c(6) non-profit organization created to provide a voice for lithotripsy providers and their partners in the urological community.
At its heart, CUI is dedicated to keeping shock wave lithotripsy appropriately available to the urologists needing it for their kidney stone patients.
To that end, CUI is readily available to educate policy makers about the patient centric benefits that SWL and other therapeutic devices offer to urological patients.
As an advocate for SWL providers since its inception in 2007, CUI has been diligent in educating CMS and its staff about the contribution CUI members have made to Medicare beneficiaries’ health and to CMS’s bottom line. Through invited formal public comments, informal dialogue, and face-to-face meetings, CUI has tried to help CMS understand a multitude of issues and come to rational decisions.
ESWL shows 83.5% stone free rate for ureteral stones*
Advocating For The Interests of Urologists & Lithotripsy Providers
CUI was founded on the principle that government bureaucrats would benefit from access to the backstory of how and why the lithotripsy provider model emerged as the efficient, cost-cutting quality-driven model that it did.
As time has passed, the need to educate CMS has not lessened. Indeed, policy changes within healthcare administration have made it ever more important for CUI’s members to offer their voice to a dialogue seeking clarity. By offering its perspective to decision-makers, CUI has been successful in helping CMS avoid draconian unintended consequences of proposed actions.
Regardless of where policy changes take us, CUI plans to continue to offer a focused voice of reason in any discussion that impacts its members.
Certification
At the same time, CUI has filled a void by creating a formal Certification Program for radiology technologists and registered nurses desiring to validate their SWL expertise for the facilities they serve.
Based upon both didactic and experiential learning, the CUI program certifies successful candidates for three years.
The need for education does not stop with radiation technologists, nurses, and governmental agencies. Indeed, over the last twenty years, many, if not most, urology residents have received little to no exposure to shock wave lithotripsy. CUI is working to change that dynamic.
Whether through its broad-based advocacy, its certification program, or its educational programs, CUI is dedicated to the proposition that kidney stone sufferers in America’s small towns and big cities need access to providers of quality services by skilled technologists and their physicians.
