CMS proposes 1.6% payment hike for inpatient psychiatric facilities
Payment would be tied to new standards for quality reporting
Like other recent proposals for inpatient hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, payment would be tied to new standards for quality reporting.
Inpatient psychiatric facilities could see a 1.6 percent bump in Medicare payments in 2016, according the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in its latest proposed prospective payment system.
Like other recent proposals for inpatient hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, payment would be tied to new standards for quality reporting.
[Also: IPPS rule proposed for rehab facilities]
The change would lift the total payments rate by $80 million, CMS said in its report.
Also, CMS warned there would be changes to the delineations between urban and rural areas, accounting for new statistical data. That means 37 inpatient psychiatric facilities would see their status switch from rural to urban, giving up their 17 percent payment adjustment for rural facilities. CMS would phase out that 17 percent bonus over three years.
The proposal also adds five new quality metrics and removes three to the existing metrics that inpatient psychiatric facilities are required to track, bringing the number up to 16. It also proposes measures to offer treatment to patients who use tobacco or other drugs and rules about screening patients for metabolic issues.
Here is the full proposal:
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