Audits or not, providers want the CMS to hold off on the new “two-midnights” rule for outpatient observation claims and change course on an accompanying reimbursement cut. Attempting to answer widespread anger among hospitals and doctors about the policy, CMS officials said that recovery audit contractors will delay scrutiny of short inpatient stays for 90 days while providers get acclimated. American Hospital Association President and CEO Richard Umbdenstock issued a statement saying “the agency's guidance only raises new questions and lacks clarity.” Echoing another concern the AHA raised, the Federation of American Hospitals said the CMS “used flawed and arbitrary assumptions to justify its $200 million payment cut to hospitals, purportedly to achieve budget neutrality for the two-midnight rule.”
—Joe Carlson
Follow Joe Carlson on Twitter: @MHJCarlson