Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS Opens Public Comments On Nursing Home Infections
CMS on Monday opened public comment on a new measure that could be added to its Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program this year. The program publicly reports quality measures on Nursing Home Compare. The new measure evaluates healthcare-associated infections that require hospitalization among residents in skilled-nursing facilities. The public comment period runs through Oct. 14. (Christ, 9/14)
In other updates on the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services —
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement along with nearly 30 federal and private stakeholders on Monday released a comprehensive plan for the industry to improve patient safety. The 41-page plan is part of the ongoing work by IHI's National Steering Committee for Patient Safety, which was formed in May 2018 over concerns that progress on patient safety has slowed in recent years due to a siloed approach and renewed attention on a national scale was needed. The committee involves 27 organizations including CMS, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Joint Commission, which collaborated over 18 months to assemble the plan. (Castellucci, 9/14)
CMS on Monday pitched changes to Medicare Advantage payments for 2022 that would complete a multiyear phase-in of a new payment methodology in which plan payments are adjusted using diagnoses solely from encounter data, which is information created by healthcare providers about patients' medical conditions and treatment. In 2022, the agency wants to fully transition to a risk adjustment model first adopted for 2020, as required by the 21st Century Cures Act. (Livingston, 9/14)
Hackensack Meridian Health is launching a Medicare Advantage plan with Horizon Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Jersey, and the partners hope to get RWJBarnabas Health on board, too. They'll offer the plan, called Braven Health, across eight New Jersey counties. The plan will use Horizon's existing Medicare Advantage network of physicians and hospitals and members choosing a PPO plan will have access to the Blues' national Medicare Advantage PPO network whenever outside of New Jersey. (Bannow, 9/14)
