Each year the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) invites stakeholders to submit comments on the proposed changes to Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule. Leapfrog's comment letter focuses on the following programs outlined in the proposed rule: Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program, Ambulatory Surgery Center Reporting Program, and the Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting Program.
Read Leapfrog's Letter.
This letter was submitted on September 11, 2023 and
includes signatures from over 25 stakeholder organizations
representing employers and consumers.
Of note, Leapfrog's comment letter highlights a major concern: the inadequacy of measures for the Rural Emergency Hospital Quality Reporting Program. While we fully support creating a quality reporting program for rural emergency hospitals (REHs), beginning the REHQR Program with four measures where only two are relevant to all REHs is inadequate to inform consumers of the performance of these facilities. We urge CMS to methodically identify gaps in measurement based on the services of REHs and work to quickly fill them.
Update: CMS published its final rule in November 2023. View Leapfrog's final rule analysis comparing the outcomes in the final rule to Leapfrog's recommendations.