Just a reminder, comments to CMS’ 2011 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule are due by June 20, 2011.  Several notable provisions in the Proposed Rule include:

• Policies for several hospital quality initiatives, including policies related to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program.
• The addition of contrast-induced acute kidney injury as a hospital acquired condition. 
• The removal of excisional debridement cases from the current MS-DRG and assignment of them to three new MS-DRGs that would provide more accurate, but lower, payment.
• The creation of two new MS-DRGS for autologous bone marrow transplants.  One MS-DRG would apply to such transplants with complications or comorbidities, while another MS-DRG would apply to such transplants without any complication or comorbidity.
• Revisions to the rules for determining pension costs for Medicare cost-finding and wage index purposes.
• Clarification that Medicare’s 3-day/1-day payment window policy applies to both preadmission diagnostic and non-diagnostic services furnished at a physician practice wholly owned or wholly operated by the admitting hospital.
• The exclusion of patient days and bed days for inpatient hospice services from the Medicare disproportionate share adjustment and indirect medical education adjustment.
• Clarification of CMS’ “under arrangements” requirements.

You may access the Proposed Rule here.

A summary of the Proposed Rule is available from CMS here.