General Question for the Week of August 14, 2017

Question:

What will be the payment increase or decrease for the next year of the IPPS?

Answer:

On August 2, 2017, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule that updates Medicare payment and polices when patients are discharged from hospitals from October 1, 2017, to September 30, 2018 (i.e., fiscal year 2018). The increase in operating payment rates for general acute-care hospitals paid under the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) that successfully participate in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program and are meaningful electronic health record (EHR) users is approximately 1.2 percent. However, payment “adjustments” or penalties could be made for excess readmissions, a continued 1 percent penalty for hospitals in the worst performing quartile under the Hospital Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program, and continued upward and downward adjustments under the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program.

More details about the final IPPS rule can be found at https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2017-Fact-Sheet-items/2017-08-02.html.