Reg's Blog

CMS Final SNF PPS Rule for 2019: Increases plus PDPM

Late this afternoon, I caught news that CMS will release a number of Final Rules impacting post-acute providers over the next few days.  Below is a quick summary of what is known for SNFs.  I will update this information as I get access to the Final Rule.

• PPS rates (manual) to adjust by 2.4% (increase).
• A final version of PDPM is included in the Final Rule.  Implementation steps including dates won’t be known until the Final Rule is issued and likely, there will still be some “fill-in-the-blanks” that will be later developed and issued. The good news is that the assessment and documentation changes that were part of the PDPM proposal remain.
• There will be some quality measure changes forthcoming as CMS’ Meaningful Measure Initiative is tasked with weighing cost vs. benefit across provider measures.  It will be some time however, before it is clear which measure changes will occur and the impact.  Important to know: Changes in meaningful measures impact QRP and ultimately, Value Based Purchasing/Pay for Performance for providers.  It is important that SNFs pay close attention to these measures as their use is beyond reporting; now reimbursement correlated and compliance correlated as well (new survey process is very similar in many ways to QIS – data driven).

More information on this topic once the Final Rule is public.

July 31, 2018 - Posted by Reg Hislop III | Uncategorized | CMS, Compliance, Economics, Final Rule, Industry Outlook, Management, Payment, PPS, Reimbursement, SNF, Strategy