CMS Release Value-Based Pricing Report
After months of work, CMS released its "Report to Congress: Plan to Implement a Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program."
If enacted, this program would significantly change the current Pay for Reporting programs to a performance and improvement driven initiative. Under the program, a portion of Medicare reimbursement for those hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) would be held out as incentive payments and higher performing or improving hospitals would receive a higher payment with lower performing hospitals receiving a lower payment.
We have seen this coming for years, noted Joe Carmichael, National Research Corporations president. This program which includes the patient perspectives of care questionnaire finally places what matters to patients on par with proven clinical measures.
NRC Picker has educated the industry through its popular HCAHPS Community Series and recently introduced the HCAHPS Program designed to help your organization focus on and improve your HCAHPS performance using evidence-based best practices.
Regarding full implementation of the value-based purchasing: adaptation of this report will require an action by Congress which is expected to begin soon.
To download the report click on this link.