Hospitals have through June 30 to review their results in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program for fiscal year 2018.
CMS opened the review period June 1.
This year, CMS includes data from Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries' discharges between July 1, 2013, and June 30, 2016. Additionally, the program includes readmission measures for the following conditions and procedures:
- Acute myocardial infarction
- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
- Heart failure
- Pneumonia
- Coronary artery bypass graft surgery
- Elective total hip and/or total knee replacement
CMS encourages hospitals to review their results, including discharge-level data. Officials can email the QualityNet Help Desk at qnetsupport@hcqis.org with any questions.
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program was established under the ACA and financially penalizes hospitals with high readmission ratios. In fiscal year 2017, 2,597 hospitals were penalized under the program.