Proposed 2025 IPPS Rule: CMS Targets Readmission Metrics

By Tiffany Ferguson, LMSW, CMAC, ACM

When it comes to healthcare policy, even seemingly minor adjustments can have significant ripple effects across the industry. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently unveiled its proposed changes for the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) for the 2025 fiscal year (FY). Among the notable alterations is a heightened focus on readmission metrics, reflecting CMS’s ongoing commitment to enhancing patient care quality and healthcare efficiency.

Redefining Metrics

One of the most significant shifts proposed by CMS involves the removal of five measures in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program pertaining to payment associated with a 30-day episode of care for various conditions, which include acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), pneumonia (PN), and elective primary total hip or knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA). These condition-specific assessments, collectively known as the Hospital-level, Risk-Standardized Payment Measures, are set to be phased out beginning with the FY 2026 payment determination.

The rationale behind this decision stems from the availability of a more comprehensive measure: the Medicare Spending Per Beneficiary-Hospital Measure (MSPB Hospital) in the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program. Unlike the condition-specific metrics, MSPB Hospital evaluates hospitals’ efficiency and resource utilization relative to the national median, providing a broader perspective on healthcare delivery. Additionally, CMS has highlighted the stability or decline in performance on these measures since FY 2019, signaling the need for a reevaluation of the program’s measure set to accommodate emerging clinical priorities.

Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP)

Meanwhile, CMS is reaffirming its commitment to the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), a cornerstone of value-based purchasing initiatives aimed at reducing payments to hospitals with excess readmissions. With no proposed changes in the FY 2025 IPPS/LTCH (Long-Term Care Hospital) PPS ruling, previously finalized policies under this program will persist, ensuring continuity in efforts to improve healthcare quality.

However, CMS has invited commentary on a specific aspect of the readmissions landscape: patients returning to the hospital for emergency-level and observation services within a 30-day period following an inpatient hospitalization. While not categorized as readmissions, these instances warrant scrutiny due to their potential implications for care coordination. CMS is highlighting concerns surrounding medication management support, social determinants of health (SDoH), and health literacy as contributing factors for 30-day emergent utilization of services. This focus on transitions of care is signaling a nuanced approach to understanding and addressing the intricacies of patient care beyond traditional readmission metrics we have previously reported under the HRRP.

Additionally, CMS provided specific details about their value-based initiatives and their focus on readmissions. The proposed changes to the IPPS demonstrate the agency’s stance toward optimizing healthcare delivery and outcomes, with several mentions of the SDoH. By refining measurement strategies and soliciting input on emerging challenges, CMS is continuing to prioritize quality, efficiency, and patient-centered care.