98 percent of Hospitals Ignore Meaningful Use Payment Adjustments

CMS has released details about the IPPS negative payment adjustments for fiscal year 2017, claiming that the majority of hospitals have ignored them through successful meaningful use attestation. The 98 percent of hospitals ignore meaningful use payment adjustments

The 98 percent of hospitals (eligible) and critical access hospitals won’t be subjected to payment adjustments in the year of 2017 because of their successful stage 1 or stage 2 meaningful use attestations, claims the CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services). CMS further stated that the 98 percent of hospitals ignore meaningful use payment adjustment through victorious meaningful use attestation.

In a proposed fact sheet, the federal agency explains the impending payment adjustments as a part of the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) coming for fiscal year 2017.

Eligible hospitals and CAHs confront payment adjustments relying upon their attestation to the Medicare EHR Incentive Programs. When a hospital victoriously attests to the program, it ignores a negative payment adjustment for examples this year 98 percent of hospitals ignore meaningful use payment adjustments.  When it does not successfully attest to meaningful use, it does confront a payment adjustment.

This cycle sustains for the duration of the EHR Incentive Programs. When a hospital victoriously attests to meaningful use in the year of 2013, for instance, it neglects the payment adjustment in the year of 2015. In order to ignore the payment adjustment in the year of 2017, the hospital must attest to the program again in the year of 2015.

For fiscal year 2017, which has been evaluated by meaningful use reporting year 2015, hospitals might confront a 75 percent negative payment adjustment.

Although, as noted above, CMS saw several successful meaningful users this year, with 98 percent of eligible hospitals and CAHs completing one of the first 2 stages of the program. All of these hospitals ignored the negative payment adjustment.
The fact sheet also covered the details of hardship exceptions, which are an alternative procedure by which hospitals and CAHs may neglect the negative payment adjustment. Through hardship exceptions, hospitals and CAHs might report a significant burden they confronted during meaningful use attestation which prevented them from successfully reporting.

Hospitals and CAHs submitting a hardship exception might apply for one by the day of April 1 of the year previously to the payment adjustment year. For the 2017 payment adjustment year, for instance, hospitals and CAHs had to submit their hardship exception applications by the month of April 1, 2016.