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The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has released its annual report to Congress on “Medicare and the Health Care Delivery System.” This year’s report includes recommendations for changes to emergency department services policies, along with analyses of potential changes that would impact physicians, medical equipment suppliers, post-acute care providers, and others.  Highlights include the following:…

Included in the 21st Century Cures Act are numerous changes to Medicare and Medicaid policies, including provisions with significant reimbursement impacts for certain types of Medicare providers and suppliers, along with changes intended to reduce the regulatory and administrative burdens associated with the use of electronic health records.  Furthermore, the law once again expands the…

According to a recent HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) report, about 29% of Medicare beneficiaries experienced adverse or temporary harm events during their rehabilitation hospital stay, based on sample of 417 beneficiaries in March 2012. This rate is similar to the incidence of adverse events in acute-care hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. The OIG estimates that 46% of the rehab hospital adverse or temporary harm events were clearly or likely preventable, attributable to such factors as substandard treatment, inadequate patient monitoring, and failure to provide needed treatment. One quarter of impacted patients were transferred to an acute-care hospital for treatment.
Continue Reading OIG Examines Adverse Events in Rehab Hospitals

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its final rule to update Medicare acute hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system (PPS) payments and policies for fiscal year (FY) 2017.  With regard to the IPPS, CMS projects that the cumulative rate and policy changes in the final rule will increase total IPPS payments by about $746 million in FY 2017 compared to FY 2016. The rule provides a 0.95% operating payment rate update for hospitals that submit quality data and are meaningful users of Electronic Health Records (EHRs).  This update reflects a 2.7% market basket update, adjusted by a -0.3 percentage point multi-factor productivity (MFP) adjustment and an additional -0.75 percentage point adjustment (as mandated by the Affordable Care Act, or ACA), resulting in a 1.65% update.  This update is subject to an additional -1.5 percentage point documentation and coding recoupment adjustment (required by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012) and a one-time increase of approximately 0.8 percentage points to permanently negate the cumulative impact of a “Two Midnight Policy” adjustment adopted in the final FY 2014 rule.
Continue Reading CMS Finalizes FY 2017 Update to Medicare IPPS, LTCH PPS Rates and Policies

On February 9, 2016, the Obama Administration released its proposed fiscal year (FY) 2017 budget, which contains significant Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement and program integrity legislative proposals – including $419 billion in Medicare savings over 10 years. These proposed policy changes would require action by Congress, and Republican Congressional leaders have already voiced general…

CMS is requesting proposals for Hospital Engagement Network (HEN) contracts from qualified entities to work on reducing preventable hospital acquired conditions and readmissions through the Partnership for Patients initiative. HENs will engage the hospital, provider, and broader care-giver communities to quickly implement tested, evidence-based, and measured best practices in order to reduce hospital-based harm and…

Today HHS Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell announced ambitious plans to move from “volume to value in Medicare payments” by accelerating the share of Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payments that are tied to quality and value and reimbursed through alternative payment models. The first goal in the initiative is for 30% of Medicare provider payments to be…

On August 22, 2014, CMS is publishing a final rule to update the Medicare acute hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system (PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2015, which begins October 1, 2014.  The following are highlights of the sweeping regulations.Continue Reading CMS Finalizes Medicare IPPS/LTCH PPS Update for FY 2015

Late on April 30, 2014, CMS released the advance text of its proposed rule to update the Medicare acute hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system (PPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2015.

With regard to IPPS hospitals, the rule would provide for a 1.3% operating payment rate update…

The OIG released a report on March 3, 2014, “Adverse Events in Skilled Nursing Facilities: National Incidence among Medicare Beneficiaries,” that examines the national incidence rate, preventability, and cost of adverse events in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). This report is an outgrowth of a series of studies about hospital adverse events. For purposes of this…

This post was also written by Rachel Golick.

On August 19, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the FY 2014 Medicare payment policies and rates under the acute inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and the long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system (PPS) (Final Rule) which, among other changes, updates…