New results, requirements for CMS's hospital value-based purchasing program

Most hospitals will see an increase in their fiscal year 2017 Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Group (MS-DRG) payments under CMS’s Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) program.

The FY2017 results from the program, which adjusts Medicare payments based on quality of care, said around 1,600 of the 3,000 hospitals participating will have a positive payment adjustment. The performing hospital in FY2017 will receive a net increase in payments of slightly more than 4 percent, and the lowest performing hospital will incur a net reduction of 1.83 percent.

Incentives in the Hospital VPB program depend on why well hospitals performed compared to their peers on important healthcare quality and resource use measures, like care coordination and safety, as well as how much a hospital has improved over time.

For FY2018, how those categories are weighted will change. Each of the four domains (Clinical Care, Patient Experience and Caregiver Centered Experience/Care Coordination, Safety, and Efficiency and Cost Reduction) will be weighted equally.

Parts of the measure set will change as well, like adding a “three-item Care Transition dimension,” which is part of the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Hospital Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey.