government
Medicare hospital pay-for-performance set to launch in 2012
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 9, 2011
Hospitals and other facilities will be rewarded for improving the quality of care they provide to patients starting in October 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced on April 29.
An estimated $850 million has been allocated for hospitals that meet quality measures under the new value-based purchasing system. The Medicare agency plans to offset the bonus pool by reducing the total pay to all hospitals under the inpatient prospective payment system by 1% next year, said CMS Administrator Donald M. Berwick, MD.
CMS outlined at least four targets hospitals must hit to qualify for bonuses. They are:
- Ensure that patients who may have had a heart attack receive care within 90 minutes.
- Provide care to surgery patients to prevent blood clots within a 24-hour window.
- Communicate discharge instructions to heart failure patients.
- Ensure that hospital facilities are clean and well-maintained.
Starting in 2014, hospitals will face reductions in pay for not meeting quality objectives, Dr. Berwick said.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/05/09/gvbf0509.htm.
