Quality

About Quality

The mission of California hospitals is to deliver safe, quality care that is accessible to all. Hospitals participate in many activities to improve the quality and safety of the care they provide. California hospitals have a trusted partner in the Hospital Quality Institute, which helps them reduce errors, and maximize patient safety. One of the ways in which HQI does this is by being a source of performance data and analytics. The data help focus improvement opportunities and scale best practices.

CMS Proposes Inadequate Inpatient Payment Update

What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) proposed fiscal year (FY) 2025 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) rule falls short of what hospitals need to keep up with rising costs and health care needs.  

What else to know: The rule includes a net market basket update of 2.6%. As a result of all proposed changes, CMS estimates that hospital inpatient payments will increase by $3.2 billion in FY 2025. Comments are due June 10.  

CMS Proposes 2.6% Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rate Increase for FY 2025

What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a net increase to base Medicare inpatient payment rates (market basket update) of 2.6% for fiscal year (FY) 2025. 

What else to know: The increase is included in the FY 2025 Medicare hospital inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) prospective payment system proposed rule. Comments on the proposed rule are due to CMS by June 10. 

CMS Issues Post-Acute Care Payment Proposed Rules

What’s happening: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its proposed payment policies for inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), skilled-nursing facilities (SNFs), and hospices for federal fiscal year (FFY) 2025.  

What else to know: Comments on the proposed rules are due to CMS by 2 p.m. (PT) on May 28. 

CDPH’s Centralized Application Evolution

The Center for Health Care Quality (CHCQ) licenses and certifies over 14,000 health care facilities and agencies in California in 30 different licensure and certification categories. Keeping licensing and certification practices consistent throughout California can be challenging. The Centralized Program Flex Unit (CPFU), a division of CHCQ, has a mission to ensure standardization and consistency […]