The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. Per CMS, “the data contained within the Preview Reports is based on quality data submitted by IRFs between Quarter 2 – 2018 and Quarter 1 – 2019 and reflects what will be published on IRF Compare during the December 2019 refresh of the website”. Providers will have until October 11, 2019 to review their data and can request CMS review of their data during the preview period if they believe the quality measure scores

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the fiscal year (FY) 2020 Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) proposed rule. Highlights of the proposed rule include: CMS projects that IRF payments will increase by 2.3 percent for FY 2020 Revising the case-mix groups based on two years of data (FY 2017 and FY 2018) from the quality indicator data items and update the relative weights and average length of stay values associated with the revised case-mix groups beginning on October 1, 2019. Proposing 2 new interoperability measures for the IRF rule to implement the final requirements of the IMPACT

On December 20, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) revised MLN Matters Number SE 17036 to remove the Admission order requirement from the portion of the article under “Required documentation elements for an IRF claim include, but are not limited to.” To access this ML Matters revision, click HERE. In addition, CMS did clarify the use of students treating Medicare beneficiaries in the inpatient rehab setting. For the latest information on this topic, click HERE.

During a November 15, 2018 Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) phone call, a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) representative stated that according to hospital conditions of participation that Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) must meet, students do not have a role in providing therapy or therapy minutes to patients, even under direct supervision of the licensed therapist. On December 11, 2018, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA), American Occupational Therapy Association, and American Speech-Language-Hearing Association participated in a meeting with CMS. During the meeting, CMS indicated that there had been