Study Finds CMS MIPS Scores Not Correlated With Reductions in Readmissions or Complications Better MIPS quality scores may be rarely associated with lower rates of hospital complications in the first year of implementation, study finds. RevCycle Intelligence (8/9, McKeon) reported on research indicating that “better Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) quality scores were rarely associated...

Federal Government Agencies Accelerate Review of COVID-19 Provider Relief Fund Expenditures On August 27, 2021, the Biden administration announced it has hired several separate outside contractors to police the billions in COVID-19 grants it sent to hospitals and health care providers. The contracts, which have not previously been reported, are a sign that the federal...

Senate Passes Massive Infrastructure Bill That Includes Several Health Care Provisions On August 10, 2021, the U.S. Senate, by a vote of 69-31, passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, H.R. 3684. The 2,702-page legislation contains several relevant health care–related provisions, including a delay of the implementation of the rule eliminating the Anti-Kickback Statute safe harbor...

CMS Releases 2022 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) Final Rule On August 2, 2021, CMS published a final rule for the 2022 Calendar Year Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) The final rule, effective October 1, 2021, authorizes additional payments for diagnostics and therapies to treat COVID-19 during the current public health emergency, and beyond....