The Michigan Health Association (MHA) recently submitted a formal commentary to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding their proposed updates to the Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System for the fiscal year 2025.
The proposed changes include alterations to the conditions for both hospitals and Critical Access Hospital, chiefly revisions to the conditions of involvement in infection prevention and control programs as well as antibiotic stewardship programs. Further, the proposed CMS rule seeks extension of present reporting requirements for COVID-19 and influenza so as to encompass respiratory syncytial virus, necessitating a weekly reporting by hospitals.
The proposed changes, however, have been met with significant opposition from the MHA, based on feedback from member hospitals and inputs from the Association for Professionals in Infection Control & Epidemiology. The crux of their contention focuses on the administrative burden this proposed rule may inflict on the infection prevention departments of hospitals.
During the course of the COVID-19 public health emergency, hospitals confronted significant hurdles in adhering to reporting requirements, often necessitating the diversion of resources from direct patient care to tasks such as data collection and reporting. The MHA members also raised concerns about the usefulness and transparency of the data that would be collected. Despite the massive amounts of information collected during the COVID-19 public health emergency, hospitals have not reaped actionable insights or even summary reports. Without solid proof that the data will be employed effectively, the addition of reporting requirements seems unwarranted, especially considering hospitals are capable of using and analyzing their data as needed.
Despite MHA’s dissent, CMS has chosen to enforce these novel requirements, set to take effect from Oct. 1, 2024. Members are urged to keep abreast of these changes and prepare for their implementation. They can reach out to Kelsey Ostergren at MHA for queries. It is recommended to subscribe to the MHA’s weekly newsletter, the ‘MHA Monday Report’ or the podcast ‘MiCare Champion Cast’ for staying updated on healthcare news and events specific to Michigan.
Source: https://www.mha.org/newsroom/new-cms-requirements-for-reporting-of-hospital-respiratory-data/