The evolution of telehealth and the potential for sustainability
The surge in use of telehealth services seen during the pandemic has slowed, but telehealth remains a key modality amid policy changes that will help set the course for the future of virtual care. “There’s no alternative,” said Kyle Zebley, senior vice president for public policy with the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) and executive director…
FY 2024 IPPS/LTCH Final Rule Summary
HFMA presents a detailed summary of the final rule released by CMS describing federal FY 2024 policies and rates for Medicare’s inpatient prospective payment system and the long-term care hospital prospective payment system.
News Briefs: Hospitals foresee adverse impacts from the FY24 inpatient payment rule
The FY24 final rule for Medicare inpatient payments didn’t bring hospitals the type of rate update they had sought, and for some organizations, a bigger concern is changes to uncompensated care (UC) payments. The regulations, which take effect Oct. 1, establish a 3.1% increase in operating payment rates, on average, for hospitals that meet quality-reporting…
Prices of drugs for diabetes, heart failure and more will be up for negotiation in Medicare next year
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Tuesday announced the first 10 Medicare Part D drugs that will be subject to price negotiations, the headlining healthcare-related provision of the Inflation Reduction Act. Signed in August 2022, the law gave Medicare authority to negotiate with drug manufacturers over the prices of selected drugs.…
Healthcare News of Note: Latino, Black and Asian people ‘significantly more likely’ to enroll in Medicare Advantage
Among beneficiaries of color, Medicare Advantage enrollees are demographically and geographically different from those in fee-for-service Medicare. Turnover among hospital CEOs has trended downward since hitting 20% in 2013. Eleven of the 100 U.S. hospitals to earn NRC Health’s Consumer Loyalty Award were also honored with the organization’s Consumer Loyalty “Best in Class” Award for…
FY 2024 Skilled Nursing Facilities PPS Final Rule Summary
HFMA presents a detailed summary of the final rule updating the Medicare skilled nursing facility (SNF) payment rates for FY 2024.
FY 2024 Hospice Payment Rate Update Final Rule Summary
HFMA provides a detailed summary of the final rule updating the Medicare hospice payment rates, wage index, the cap amount and the quality reporting requirements for FY 2024.
Healthcare News of Note: 10 drugs account for a large share of Medicare Part D spending
In total, Part D gross spending rose from $166 billion in 2018 to $216 billion in 2021. In 2023, customer personal identifiable information costs organizations $183 per record and employee PII costs $181 per record. Average length across all clinical notes increased 8.1%, from 4,628 characters in May 2020 to 5,002 characters in April 2023. …
FY 2024 Inpatient Psychiatric Facilities PPS Final Rule Summary
HFMA presents a detailed summary of the FY 2024 final rule released by CMS that rebases and revises the inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF) PPS market basket to reflect a 2021 base year and makes other changes affecting IPF PPS rates.
Medicare’s proposed remedy for 340B-acquired drug underpayments: Addressing only half at best?
On July 7, 2023, CMS released a proposed rule, identified as CMS-1793-P, which outlines the agency’s intended actions to address the adjustment of Medicare payment rates for drugs acquired under the 340B Drug Pricing Program. This proposed rule pertains to the period spanning from calendar year 2018 through Sept. 27, 2022. The necessity for this remedy…