Becker's Hospital Review

10 CFO / FINANCE CMS releases final inpatient payment rule: 6 takeaways By Ayla Ellison CMS released its annual Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule Aug. 1, which raises Medicare payment rates for acute care hospitals. e rule applies to discharges occurring on or aer Oct. 1, 2022. Here are six takeaways from the 2,087-page final rule : 1. Acute care hospitals that report quality data and are meaningful users of EHRs will receive a 4.3 percent increase in Medicare rates in fiscal year 2023, compared to fiscal 2022. The rate reflects a hospital market basket update of 4.1 percent reduced by 0.3 percentage point for productivity, plus a 0.5 percentage point adjustment required by statute. "is is the highest market basket update in the last 25 years and is primarily due to higher expected growth in compensation prices for hospital workers," CMS said. 2. CMS is adding three health equity-focused measures in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program. e first measure will assess a hospital's commitment to establishing a culture of equity by examining five domains, including data collection, strategic planning, data analysis, leadership engagement and quality improvement. e second and third measures will examine patient-level, health-related social needs, including housing instability and food insecurity. 3. e final rule will establish a "birthing-friendly" hospital designation in fall 2023. e designation will be based on the quality and safety of maternity care. "e 'birthing-friendly' hospital designation will provide important information to consumers about hospitals with a demonstrated commitment to reducing maternal morbidity and mortality by implementing best practices that advance health care quality and safety for pregnant and postpartum patients," CMS said. 4. CMS finalized a proposed requirement for continued COVID- 19-related reporting for hospitals with a reduced number of data categories as an off ramp to the current public health emergency. 5. CMS is discontinuing the use of proxy data for uncompensated care costs in determining uncompensated care payments for Indian Health Service and Tribal hospitals and hospitals in Puerto Rico. e agency is also establishing a new supplemental payment to promote long-term payment stability for these hospitals. 6. "We are pleased that CMS will provide hospitals and health systems with increased inpatient payments next year, rather than a cut as proposed, allowing them to better provide care for their patients and communities," American Hospital Association Executive Vice President Stacy Hughes said in a statement. "As we urged, CMS will use more recent data to calculate the market basket and disproportionate share hospital payments, which yields far more accurate figures that better reflect the historic inflation and tremendous labor and supply cost pressures hospitals and health systems face." Ms. Hughes said the payment update will fall short of what hospitals need to overcome challenges, including inflationary expenses and increased costs tied to staff shortages. n OhioHealth to eliminate 637 jobs, its biggest layoff ever By Nika Schoonover C olumbus-based OhioHealth is eliminating 637 jobs, its biggest layoff ever, according to The Columbus Dispatch. The move is part of a plan to engage external partners to provide some services the system currently provides in house. Over the next three to five months, the system will eliminate those jobs in information technology and revenue cycle management. Of those, 567 are in information technology. It informed workers of the cuts on July 7. "We are committed to providing a high-level of support to all associates affected by this change," Colin Yoder, director of media and public relations at OhioHealth, told Becker's in a statement. "This includes outplacement support, a job fair specifically for those displaced, temporary salary and benefits continuation after their OhioHealth employment ends and upskill training for those in Information Technology." OhioHealth said the IT work will be handled by the professional services company Accenture, and AGS Health will handle the revenue cycle business. The layoffs, according to OhioHealth, are intended to improve patient care and services and position the healthcare system for a future where patients rely more on telemedicine and cellphones to obtain their healthcare. "This strategy will enable us to secure the skills, technology, expertise and innovation required to deliver a best-in- class, patient-centric, personalized healthcare experience without taking away from investments we are already making at the bedside," Mr. Yoder said. The IT workers will remain on payroll until Jan. 3 and will be given the opportunity for training that could make them eligible for other jobs at the company. The other workers will be laid off Nov. 4. n

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