The 2016 OPPS proposed rule released July 2 is deceptively short, but packs a punch. CMS is proposing the most massive APC reconfiguration and consolidation of APC groups since the beginning of OPPS, says Jugna Shah, MPH, president and founder of Nimitt Consulting, based in Washington, D.C., and Spicer, Minnesota.
To get a real sense of the financial impact, providers will need to take several steps, says Shah. First, review the narrative text to get a feel for the major categories of changes CMS is proposing, including some of the operational ones.
The April quarterly I/OCE update from CMS did not defy convention featuring the typically small number of updates following extensive changes in the previous quarter but CMS did continue to clarify
The 2016 OPPS proposed rule is likely to continue CMS' trend of expanded packaging and feature refinements and expansion of comprehensive APCs based on comments CMS has made in prior rules.
