Hospitals Gripe About IPPS Rule Change Targeting Hospital-Owned Practices -InsideHealthPolicy.com: "Some hospital advocates are upset with the Aug. 1 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule that subjects hospital-owned practices to payment rules currently applicable to practices not owned by hospitals, in an effort to recoup overpayments. The rule requires hospitals to bundle, in inpatient claims, outpatient services performed for Medicare beneficiaries three days before admission -- including outpatient services provided by physician practices that are “wholly owned or wholly operated” by the hospital. Under the regulation, hospital-provided outpatient nondiagnostic services given on or up to three days prior to admission must be billed as Medicare inpatient claims."
