Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Will Reward Hospitals Based on Quality of Care for Patients

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. The program affects all United States hospitals and hospital units operating under Medicare "subsection (d)," which includes general, acute care, short-term hospitals. It does not apply to critical access hospitals, or to hospitals and hospital units excluded from the . . .