HCCs are the basis for risk adjustments for reimbursement models like Medicare Advantage, accountable care organizations (ACO), and other value-based purchasing measures such as Medicare Spending Per Beneficiary. Poor understanding and application of HCCs mean that a hospital’s patients may be much sicker in reality than they appear to be on paper. And that will hit reimbursement hard.
Probably the most onerous duty physicians have is the preparation of the inpatient discharge summary, especially after a long or complicated hospital stay.
With a new year underway, providers likely need to get a handle on some key new modifiers, as well as important changes to an existing modifier and the deletion of a modifier that previously raised a lot of questions and operational concerns.
Pneumonia discharges impact hospital payments under the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program as well as the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. The selection of a principal diagnosis, secondary diagnosis, present on admission (POA) status, and discharge status on each claim determines whether a pneumonia discharge will be included in the measure.
