CMS Releases OPPS Proposed Rule for CY 2012 - July 12, 2011

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 1 released the Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) proposed rule for calendar year (CY) 2012. The proposed rule includes a fee-schedule update factor of 1.50 percent for hospitals that meet the requirements of the Hospital Outpatient Quality Program (OQP) and a -0.50 percent update factor for those that do not. For the OQP, CMS is proposing to add 9 additional measures for CY 2014. In the proposed rule, CMS also has proposed changes to the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program that will apply new weights to the four quality domains for fiscal year (FY) 2014. Additionally, the proposed rule includes changes to the Medicare Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, allowing hospitals to continue to report clinical quality measures by attestation or, alternatively, by participating in a proposed Electronic Reporting Pilot in FY 2012. More details on the proposed rule can be found in NAPH’s Special Update. Comments on the proposed rule are due by Aug. 30, 2011. Please contact Kevin Van Dyke at kvandyke@naph.org or 202-585-0124 with any questions or comments on the proposed rule.