In the 21st Century Cures Act of 2016, Congress mandated that MedPAC examine the effects of Medicare’s Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP). Created by Congress in 2010, the HRRP penalizes hospitals with high rates of readmission for a selected set of conditions (pneumonia, acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure, hip and knee replacement, chronic obstructive… Read more »
Category: Quality
The Hospital Value Incentive Program: Measuring and rewarding meaningful hospital quality
In January 2019, the Commission recommended the Congress replace the four current hospital quality payment programs with a single alternative program—the Hospital Value Incentive Program (HVIP). The HVIP encourages the delivery of better-quality hospital care for beneficiaries, catalyzes change in the delivery system, considers differences in providers’ patient populations, and reduces provider burden.
Data book highlight: Rates of low-value service use and spending in Medicare
On Friday, MedPAC released its July 2016 data book. The data book is an annual MedPAC publication filled with charts and tables presenting much of the information from our March report, plus more, in a convenient and accessible reference guide. In this post, we’re highlighting two charts (5-7 and 5-8) about low-value care that can be found in this year’s edition.
Use of low-value care in Medicare is substantial
The issue of wasteful or “low-value” health care has attracted a lot of attention in the policy community because it represents an opportunity to reduce health care spending while maintaining or even improving quality for patients. The Commission has been working on ways to measure the incidence of low-value care within Medicare. The most recent iteration of this work, which was presented at our April meeting [link to presentation], contributes to the evidence that Medicare beneficiaries are receiving a significant amount of low-value care.
The hospital readmission penalty: How well is it working?
The hospital readmission reduction program (HRRP), established under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, has helped to reduce hospital readmissions. Since the introduction of the HRRP, readmission rates have fallen for Medicare beneficiaries across all types of hospitals, including those seeing higher shares of poor patients.
Comment Letter on Quality Measurement in Medicare
Today MedPAC posted a comment letter to CMS on the list of Medicare quality measures under consideration for use in Medicare’s quality reporting or value-based purchasing programs. This year’s “list of measures under consideration” is a 329-page document listing hundreds of quality and resource use measures. Under the statute, CMS may consider including any of these measures during upcoming rule-making for its quality program. The list does not include the dozens of measures already adopted for Medicare’s quality programs, only potential new measures.