Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Value-Based Purchasing Program

May 6, 2011 On April 29, 2011, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released details about the quality measures to be used in the upcoming Medicare value-based purchasing program for hospitals. Starting in fiscal year 2013, Medicare will allocate an estimated $850 million to hospitals on a performance-based payment structure linked to the use of evidence-based practices. Hospitals with better performance will receive higher reimbursements than hospitals with poorer performance. In the future, to support continued high performance, CMS plans to add additional measures that focus on improved patient outcomes and prevention of hospital . . .