The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will raise Medicare payments to skilled nursing facilities by 1.2 percent in fiscal 2016, the agency announced Thursday, boosting payments for these facilities by $430 million.
In addition to the payment change, CMS said it will begin penalizing skilled nursing facilities in 2018 that fail to report quality measures as part of the agency's shift towards value-based reimbursement. Failure to report could result in a 2 percent cut in Medicare reimbursements.
[Also: CMS proposes rules to revamp nursing home care, trim costs]
Also, starting in 2018, facilities will begin reporting on three health measures to gauge care quality: skin integrity and changes in skin integrity; incidence of major falls; and functional status, cognitive function, and changes in function and cognitive function.
The final rule also sets an acceptable 30-day unplanned readmission rate that takes all causes into account. That rate will be used in the value-based purchasing programs to determine payment rates and penalties.
The White House has also proposed policy changes to how Medicare and Medicaid pay skilled nursing facilities, a healthcare sector that has struggled amid staffing shortages, that include better nurse training and mandatory staff level monitoring.
Twitter: @AnthonyBrino