ACR Provides Detailed Summary of 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule

The American College of Radiology® (ACR®) created a detailed summary of the federal fiscal year 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and long-term care hospital prospective payment system (LTCH PPS) proposed rule released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) April 10. The summary outlines proposed payment and program changes that impact radiology under this payment system.

CMS proposes a base payment update of +2.6%, which is expected to translate to an increase of $3.2 billion in payments to hospitals. Payments to qualified Disproportionate Share Hospitals (DSHs), who serve a significant number of low-income patients, are estimated to increase by $560 million. The proposed rule continues the provision outlined in Section 4122 of the Consolidated Appropriations Act (CAA) 2023 requiring the distribution of an additional 200 Medicare-funded residency positions to train physicians during the next 10 years. CMS proposes to focus on health professional shortage areas to the extent possible with available slots to help bolster rural and underserved areas.

Also of note, under the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program, the electronic clinical quality measure Excessive Radiation Dose or Inadequate Image Quality for Diagnostic Computed Tomography (CT) in Adults will become available at the start of the 2025 reporting year. This measure is directly attributable to radiology departments and facilities.

For more information or if you have questions, contact Kimberly Greck, Senior ACR Economic Policy Analyst.