Becker's Hospital Review

8 CFO / FINANCE CMS' final inpatient payment rule for 2022: 7 things to know By Alia Paavola C MS released its annual Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule Aug. 2, which increases Medicare payment rates for acute care hospitals and re- moves some price transparency requirements. e rule applies to discharges occurring on or aer Oct. 1. Seven takeaways from the 2,295-page final rule: 1. Payment rate update. Hospitals that report quality data and are meaningful users of EHRs will see about a 2.5 percent increase in Medi- care rates in fiscal year 2022, compared to 2021. CMS expects hospital payments to increase by an aggregate $2.3 billion in fiscal 2022. CMS said the changes in the final rule will increase payments by $3.7 billion and include a $1.4 bil- lion decrease from other adjustments. 2. Price transparency requirements. CMS will move forward with its plan to remove median payer-specific negotiated rates by Medicare severity-diagnosis related group with Medicare Advantage insurers. CMS said this will reduce administrative burden on hospitals by about 64,000 hours. 3. Disproportionate share hospital pay- ments. CMS will distribute $7.2 billion in uncompensated care payments for fiscal 2022, a decrease of about $1.1 billion from fiscal 2021. 4. Add-on payment for COVID-19 treat- ment. e inpatient payment rule finalizes an add-on payment for COVID-19 treatment through the end of the fiscal year in which the public health emergency ends. 5. Inpatient Quality Reporting Program. CMS proposed several changes to the Inpa- tient Quality Reporting Program, which re- duces payment to hospitals that fail to meet program requirements. CMS will add five new measures to the program, including COVID-19 vaccination rates among health- care personnel, a metric targeting maternal morbidity and two medication-related adverse event electronic clinical quality measures. CMS will also remove the exclusive breast milk feeding measure. 6. Medicare Promoting Interoperability Pro- gram. CMS is finalizing a few changes to the interoperability program to reduce the burden on eligible hospitals and critical access hospi- tals. In particular, CMS will increase the mini- mum required scoring threshold for the objec- tives and measures from 50 to 60 points, out of 100, to be considered a meaningful EHR user and adopt two new electronic clinical quality measures and remove three. 7. Value-based payment programs. CMS will suppress most hospital value-based pur- chasing program measures during the public health emergency for COVID-19. As a result, hospitals will receive neutral payment ad- justments under the value-based program in fiscal 2022. n Mount Sinai Health System launches $2B capital campaign By Alia Paavola M ount Sinai Health System has launched a capital campaign to raise $2 billion by 2025, the New York City-based system said Aug. 9. The funds raised through the health system's "Limitless" campaign will allow it to invest in new technologies like artificial intelligence and machine learning, improve pre- cision medicine efforts, accelerate scientific research and modernize facilities. Mount Sinai also said the campaign will aid in the recruitment of students, fellows, researchers and physicians. Mount Sinai said it already has raised $1 billion in gifts during the campaign's quiet phase and is now beginning the public phase of the campaign. Kenneth Davis, MD, president and CEO of Mount Si- nai Health System, said the campaign "will support for- ward-thinking initiatives at Mount Sinai that challenge con- ventions and push the boundaries of medicine, so we can more rapidly solve today's most pressing health problems and better the lives of the diverse communities we serve in New York City and around the world." n AdventHealth buys theme park for $32M, plans redevelopment By Ayla Ellison A ltamonte Springs, Fla.-based AdventHealth ac- quired The Holy Land Experience theme park in Orlando, Fla., for $32 million, the Orlando Business Journal reported Aug. 5. AdventHealth finalized the purchase of the shuttered theme park Aug. 2. The health system said it will release details on the redevelopment plan for the 14-acre site in the future. "AdventHealth will make a significant investment in re- developing the property to bring enhanced healthcare services to the community," a system spokesperson told the Orlando Business Journal. "Orlando continues to be one of the fastest growing regions in the country, and it's important that residents have access to healthcare that's close to home, convenient and comprehensive." AdventHealth acquired the theme park from Holy Land Experience Ministries, an entity tied to Tustin, Calif.-based Trinity Broadcasting Network, according to the report. n

• Cover