Proposed revisions to CMS's Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule add 10 new quality measures to reporting requirements for hospitals for full Medicare reimbursement. Eight of the 10 new quality measures are related to hospital-acquired conditions; two are patient safety indicators. The proposed rule also means hospitals would take a $142 million cut in Medicare payments, and the nation's 3,500 acute care hospitals would receive a 0.1% reduction in reimbursement rates for inpatient care. According to CMS, the changes are a step toward improving the accuracy of Medicare payments for inpatient hospital stays.

     At the same time, the new system will continue expanding payment incentives to improve the quality and safety of patient care. The amount of reimbursement hospitals would receive is also closely tied to quality reporting under the RHQDAPU program, and failure to report would result in a two percent penalty. Also included in the regulation are proposed changes to the Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update (RHQDAPU) program. Read more at: http://www.medpagetoday.com/PublicHealthPolicy/Medicare/19646 and http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20100420/NEWS/304209980#

     The proposed rule, CMS-1498-P, is open for public comment through June 18.  Access the proposed rule on CMS's website at this link: http://www.cms.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/IPPS2010/list.asp#TopOfPage

     Details regarding the RHQDAPU program begin on page 372 of the downloadable PDF file.

     Submit comments on specific issues in the regulation electronically at www.Regulations.gov.   

     Please take the time to read this proposed rule and make your comments.