Over $500 Million in Downward Payment Adjustments Expected for 2017

CMS has reported that 2,579 hospitals will be affected by downward payment adjustments in 2017 due to penalties associated with the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP). That translates to an average penalty of over $190,000, or a 0.73% reduction in reimbursement value. One of the biggest factors for these downward payment adjustments is avoidable ED readmissions. Over the last five years, healthcare organizations have been reporting on this measure without the weight of downward adjustments. The hope was …