CMS Medicare Program: Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems and Quality Reporting Programs; New Categories for Hospital Outpatient Department Prior Authorization Process; Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: Laboratory Date of Service Policy; Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating Methodology; Physician-owned Hospitals; Notice of Closure of Two Teaching Hospitals and Opportunity To Apply for Available Slots, Radiation Oncology Model; and Reporting Requirements for Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) to Report COVID-19 Therapeutic Inventory and Usage and to Report Acute Respiratory Illness During the Public Health Emergency (PHE) for Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Notice of final rule with comment period and interim final rule with comment period from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The final rule revises the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ACS) payment system for calendar year 2021, updates and refines the requirements for the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program and the ASC Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program, and establishes and updates the Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating beginning with the 2021 calendar year, among other things. The interim final rule modifies the Radiation Oncology Model (RO Model) Model performance period for CY 2021, and establishes new requirements in the hospital and critical access hospital (CAH) Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for tracking COVID-19 therapeutic inventory and usage and the incidence and impact of Acute Respiratory Illness during the ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). Comments on the final rule are due by January 4, 2021. Comments on the interim final rule are due by February 2, 2021. The final rule is effective January 1, 2021.
Source: Federal Register updates via the Rural Assistance Center - Category: Rural Health Source Type: news