Bundled Payments for Medicare Outpatient Services?

Come 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) may push bundling of some outpatient procedures. The proposed rule change would be made in an effort to continue the streamlining of Medicare and Medicaid payment systems. Healthcare Payer News Reports:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) 2014 proposed rules for the hospital outpatient prospective system (OPPS), released earlier this week, offer payment increases and “packaging” of services.

The proposed rule would increase hospital OPPS payments by $4.37 billion or 9.5 percent, and 2014 Medicare payments to ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) by approximately $133 million or 3.51 percent, as compared to 2013, according to a CMS press release.

In its effort to continue streamlining the payment system, CMS proposes to “package” particular services and supports into seven new categories. A separate payment would still be made if an item included in a package is reported alone on a claim.

CMS also proposes collapsing the current five levels of outpatient visit codes to one.

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