FY 2021 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities Prospective Payment System Final Rule Summary

On August 4, 2020, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a final rule to update the payment rates under the inpatient psychiatric facilities prospective payment system (IPF PPS) for fiscal year 2021. IPFs include psychiatric hospitals and excluded psychiatric units of acute hospital or critical access hospitals. Updates to the market basket and payment adjustments for the FY 2021 IPF PPS are described; notably the final rule modifies the IPF PPS wage index areas with a transition to mitigate the negative effects of this change. No changes are made to the IPF Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program. The final rule also modifies the condition of participation on “Special Medical Record Requirements for Psychiatric Hospitals” as addressed in the interim final rule with comment period issued on April 6, 2020.