Dive Brief:
- The American Hospital Association (AHA) wants the Hospital Readmissions and Reduction Program (HRRP) to stop penalizing hospitals for readmission factors that are beyond their control.
- Over the next year, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is preparing to penalize a record number of hospitals for excessive readmissions.
- CMS is also preparing to increase the fine ceiling to as much as 3% of Medicare reimbursements.
Dive Insight:
"While hospital readmissions are declining, there are serious questions about how the HRRP assesses penalties that affect the fairness and long-term sustainability of the program," the AHA says in a related report. More specifically, the AHA wants HRRP to only penalize hospitals for avoidable admissions that are related to the initial admission. They also want adjustments to be made that take sociodemographic factors into consideration to ensure that hospitals serving higher-risk populations do not incur disproportionate penalties.