Healthcare & Technology

The CMS buzz on proposed reimbursement rules and regulatory simplification

Proposed Reimbursement Rules and Regulatory Simplification

Healthcare Informatics Journal announced that the "Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a proposed rule that would update 2018 Medicare payment and polices when patients are admitted into hospitals. The rule also has several other components to it related to health IT and value-based purchasing, including a stipulation that would allow eligible professionals (EPs) to report to a 90-day reporting period for the meaningful use program in 2018."

A link to the regulations are contained in the article, and a Press Release describes the following.

Proposed Changes and Updates in the FY 2018 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Propestive Payment System (PPS) Policies

The proposed changes, which would apply to approximately 3,330 acute care hospitals and approximately 420 LTCHs, would affect discharges occurring on or after October 1, 2017.

• Proposed Changes to Payment Rates under IPPS
• Medicare Uncompensated Care Payments
• Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program
• Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP)Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs for Eligible Hospitals, Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), and Eligible Professionals (EPs)
  
• Proposed Changes to Clinical Quality Measures (CQMs) for 2017 and 2018
• Proposed Changes for the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs   
• Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program
• Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program
• PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting (PCHQR) Program
• Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program
  Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) Changes
• Long-Term Care Hospital Quality Reporting Program (LTCH QRP)
  
• Proposed Revisions to the Application and Re-Application Procedures for National Accrediting Organizations (AOs)
• Proposed Changes to Termination Notices
• Rural Community Hospital Demonstration

 

What are the Application Security Considerations for Healthcare?

"Why does health care seem to be disproportionately the target of ransomware attacks, and what can be done about it?

To understand why somebody would attack healthcare organizations using ransomware as their strategy, you have to know what the motivation of the attacker is," wrote Tim Jarrett, Senior Director, Enterprise Security Strategy in an article in Health Leaders Media, Senior Director, Enterprise Security Strategy.

In addition, on April 14th, Becker's Healthcare IT and CIO Review reported: "There were 1,519,521 breached patient records in March, representing a 155 percent increase in the number of breached records in January (388,307) and February (206,151) combined." 

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