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CMS releases proposed 2008 hospital inpatient rule

Case Management Weekly, April 25, 2007

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CMS last week released a proposed rule intended to continue the transition to a more accurate payment system for hospital inpatient care, an effort begun last year.

Overall, the proposed rule would increase payments to more than 3,500 acute care hospitals by $3.3 billion, according to a CMS press release. The agency also said that the inpatient rates for operating expenses will rise by 3.3% in fiscal 2008 for the hospitals that report quality data to the government.

Comments on the proposed inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) rule are due on June 12, and the final rule, which will be effective beginning October 1, will be published later in the summer, CMS said.

Payment reforms include a proposal to restructure the inpatient DRGs to account for the severity of a patient's condition. The proposed rule would create 745 new severity-adjusted DRGs, replacing the current 538 DRGs, with payments increasing for hospitals with sicker patients and decreasing for hospitals with less ill patients. These changes reflect recommendations from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.

Source: CMS; Bureau of National Affairs

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