On Aug. 1, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released two regulations that will update the Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) payment rates and policies under the Inpatient Psychiatric Facility (IPF) Prospective Payment System (PPS) for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2017.

The first regulation is an update notice (UN) that updates the IPF payment factors. The second regulation is a final rule (the FFY 2017 Inpatient PPS (IPPS) final rule) that updates the quality reporting program for IPFs.

A copy of the update notice, Federal Register (FR) and other resources related to the IPF PPS are available on the CMS website. An online version of the update notice is available here. An online version of the IPPS final rule that updates the IPF quality reporting requirements is available here.

The submission of comments is not permitted on the IPF PPS update notice. The update does not initiate any policy changes and reflects the application of established methodologies that have been previously subject to public comment. The submission of comments is also not permitted on the IPPS final rule.

A SDAHO brief of the update notice that updates the IPF payment factors and final rule that updates the quality reporting program along with display copy page references for additional details are provided. Program changes will be effective for discharges on or after Oct. 1 unless otherwise noted.