Inpatient

Length of stay remains a challenge

Becker’s Hospital CFO Report recently published an interesting list about hospital lengths of stay, Here’s an excerpt:

Managing a count of days involves much more than meets the eye…

Estimates for the average LOS vary. In 2023, an analysis of 4,405 U.S. hospitals from Definitive showed an average LOS of 4.5 days. South Dakota and Utah had the lowest average at 3.3 days while Maryland and Washington, D.C., had the highest average LOS at 6.1 days and 6.5 days, respectively.

If a 425-bed hospital lowered its average LOS by one day from 6 to 5 days, it could save $20 million in operating expenses over one year and gain about $20 million in additional margin by expanding its capacity to admit more patients, assuming an average margin of $4,500 per admission, according to Kaufman Hall.

Full list is here.

About CMS Form 1450…

Many are familiar with a medical form called the UB-04. It stands for “Universal Bill 2004” and is the name of a billing form used by hospitals and other facility providers. (Physicians typically use the HCFA 1500 form which is somewhat similar.)

What some don’t realize is that Medicare gives the UB-04 its own designation as CMS Form-1450. Few call it that because it serves many different providers and payers than just CMS. Continue reading “About CMS Form 1450…”

How ChatGPT describes IPPS

ChatGPT is a remarkable tool, but it still has its flaws. We decided to ask it to explain Medicare’s Inpatient Prospective Payment System. Here’s some of what it told us:

The Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) is a method used by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in the United States to reimburse acute care hospitals for inpatient services. IPPS was established as part of the Social Security Amendments of 1983 and went into effect in 1984. The main goal of IPPS is to control rising healthcare costs by setting predetermined rates for inpatient hospital services. Here is how IPPS works… Continue reading “How ChatGPT describes IPPS”