Come 2019, skilled nursing facilities could see significant increases in funding.
On Friday April 27th, the administrator for Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), Seema Verma, announced the proposal of the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM), a plan that would provide skilled nursing facilities with an $850 million pay raise.
Skilled nursing facilities have typically used the Resource Utilization Group system (RUG-IV). The RUG-IV system would categorize patients according to their past care history and resource needs.
PDPM will simplify the categorization process entirely, reducing the amount categories by 80% of the total categories under RUG-IV. According to CMS’s announcement, by using the simplified reporting system as much as $2 billion will be saved over the next ten years.
Currently, the CMS proposal can be found in PDF format online. The proposal will be published on May 8th in the Federal Register and would go into effect next year if approved. For now, those in the nursing sector can look forward to life with a little less paperwork.
Sources:
https://www.mcknights.com/news/breaking-news-cms-gives-skilled-nursing-24-medicare-pay-raise-unveils-another-new-resident-classification-system/article/761877/
http://www.healthpro-heritage.com/blog/bid/115404/Your-skilled-nursing-home-facility-and-new-Rug-IV-refinements-PART-1
