Discharge Planning Proposed Rule Focuses on Patient Preferences

(Source – CMS.gov, 10/29/2015)

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed to revise the discharge planning requirements that hospitals, including long-term care hospitals and inpatient rehabilitation facilities, critical access hospitals, and home health agencies, must meet in order to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs. The proposed changes would modernize the discharge planning requirements by: bringing them into closer alignment with current practice; helping to improve patient quality of care and outcomes; and reducing avoidable complications, adverse events, and readmissions.

The proposed rule would also implement the discharge planning requirements of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act), which will improve consumer transparency and beneficiary experience during the discharge planning process. The IMPACT Act requires hospitals, critical access hospitals, and certain post-acute care providers to use data on both quality and resource use measures to assist patients during the discharge planning process, while taking into account the patient’s goals of care and treatment preferences.  Read more…

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