CMS-Premier project clears key hurdle

A three-year demonstration project that teams the CMS and Premier to reward the best performing hospitals with higher reimbursement has cleared the Office of Management and Budget, Modern Healthcare has learned. A final deal could be just two weeks away. A source at the CMS said that the OMB signed off on the project last week, eliminating a key hurdle. Although some details remain to be worked out, the Medicare Waiver Demonstration Project calls for reimbursing the top 10% performing hospitals 2% more than current Medicare levels. Hospitals in the second 10% performance tier will receive 1% additional Medicare reimbursement. Premier will recruit participating hospitals though its proprietary Perspective database system. Hospitals will be measured by their performance in up to eight high-volume clinical areas. Hospital rankings will be publicly reported. -- by Cinda Becker