CMS Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment meeting set for August

The second semi-annual meeting of the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment will be Aug. 27, 28 and 29. The purpose of the panel is to advise the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services and the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on the clinical integrity of the APC groups and their associated weights, and hospital outpatient therapeutic supervision issues. Of particular interest to rural hospitals and CAHs, the panel will be reviewing recommendations from the public (including hospitals, organizations, associations) on the appropriate supervision level (general, direct or personal) for individual hospital outpatient therapeutic services. More information on the process to submit recommendations for this meeting and on recent changes to the supervision level for individual outpatient therapeutic services can be found online here and in this document and the preliminary decisions can be found here. Presentations and comments must be sent to CMS by 5 p.m. EDT July 27. The deadline for meeting registration and for requests for special accommodations is 5 p.m. EDT August 17.