Proposed Rule: Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Value-Based Purchasing Program

January 13, 2011 The federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed rules for value-based purchasing (VBP) will tie payment to how effectively hospitals deliver high quality care, with incentives for implementing electronic health records, and payment adjustments based on rates of hospital acquired conditions and readmission rates. The measures are a subset of those CMS adopted for its existing Medicare Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program. The initial proposed clinical measures are targeted at improving outcomes for acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, and for reducing health care-associated infections. The program also includes survey measures from the Hospital . . .