Last fall, two PPC members, Eric Howell, MD, from Maryland, and Greg Seymann, MD, from California, visited members of their congressional delegation on Capitol Hill. Dr. Howell is director of Collaborative Inpatient Medicine Service, Department of Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore. Dr. Seymann is associate clinical professor, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, Division of Hospital Medicine. During their meetings, Drs. Howell and Seymann voiced support for legislation to avert the Medicare cuts and discussed other elements of SHM’s quality-centered legislative agenda, emphasizing the role of hospitalists in improving the quality of care provided in America’s hospitals.
Hospital Payment (Part A)
SHM joined the American Hospital Association in opposition to a provision in the fiscal year 2008 Medicare inpatient prospective payment system, a proposed rule that would have cut Medicare payment for hospital services in fiscal year 2008.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) sought to reduce hospital payments by 2.4% in 2008 and 2009 based on the assumption that hospitals will adjust coding practices to receive higher payments as a result of proposed changes in the payment system designed to account more fully for patients’ severity of illness.
This proposed “behavioral offset” would have cut $24 billion over five years from payments to hospitals. Congress enacted legislation in September that significantly reduces the cuts hospitals face in the next two years.
Quality Reporting
Together with the Performance and Standards Task Force (PSTF), PPC and staff have posted educational material on our Web site and made other resources available to SHM members to help them determine whether or not they should participate in the PQRI, which began July 1.
For example, SHM sponsored a nationwide call with CMS on the “Nuts and Bolts of Applying the PQRI to Your Hospital Medicine Practice.” Staff have since surveyed the SHM members who participated in this members-only call to learn more about what led them to participate or not to participate in the program. Those participating were asked for information on their experiences to help inform our policy on the initiative.