CMS has released its annual Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System final rule, which raises payments for inpatient rehabilitation facilities in 2021.
Here are three key takeaways from the final rule:
1. The Medicare payment rate for inpatient rehabilitation facilities will increase by 2.4 percent in 2021 compared to this year. CMS estimates that total payments will increase by $260 million next year.
2. CMS eliminated the requirement for physicians to conduct a post-admission visit during the COVID-19 public health emergency. The final rule permanently eliminates the requirement.
3. Under the final rule, a non-physician practitioner may perform one of three required visits in the second and later weeks of a patient's care. CMS said it finalized this change "in recognition of the interdisciplinary role that non-physician practitioners are currently performing with patients in the IRF."
Access the final rule here.
More articles on healthcare finance:
Tenet's net income more than triples in Q2
11 hospitals return $192M in CARES Act payments
CMS pitches physician payment rule for 2021: 6 things to know