This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Nearly all hospitals participating in CMS reporting program earned full payment update
To receive a full payment update in 2010, centers must also report on new imaging measures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
More than 99% of hospitals that participated in the first year of a quality reporting program from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have successfully provided outpatient quality data and were granted a full payment update for 2009.
Of the 3,339 hospitals that participated in the Hospital Outpatient Quality Data Reporting Program, 3,313 (99.3%) successfully reported on seven quality measures regarding surgical and heart attack care.
The program was mandated by the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006, which stipulated that eligible hospitals that successfully report on the measures receive a full payment update, while those that do not would have their updates reduced by 2 percentage points.
Officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) say that the program attempts to provide a stronger connection between the quality of care in outpatient departments and hospital payments for those services.
“We are extremely pleased to find that hospitals have responded so successfully to the new outpatient quality measure reporting program,” CMS acting administrator Kerry Weems said in a CMS press release. “The reporting program represents another major step toward value-based purchasing of health care services to ensure that patients with Medicare and the American taxpayer get the best outcomes for their health care.”
Of the total participating hospitals, 26 received a reduced payment update. According to the release, 18 of these hospitals failed to successfully report data and eight lacked a Quality Net Administrator.
The final ruling of the hospital outpatient prospective payment system calls for the addition of four new imaging efficiency measures to the program. To receive a full payment update in 2010, participating hospitals must report on these new measures in addition to the original seven measures.
For more information:
- www.cms.hhs.gov