The Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014, known as the IMPACT Act, passed the House on September 16th. It was introduced in the House by Ways and Means Chairman Dave Camp (R-MI) and in the Senate by Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden (D-OR) on June 26, 2014. The Senate voted to approve the legislation on Thursday, September 18, meaning it will now be sent to President Obama for his signature.
The IMPACT Act establishes requirements for post-acute care (PAC) providers to report and share standardized assessment data, including patient assessments, quality measures, and information about resource use. The bill gives various facilities between two and just over four years to implement processes that allow them to report different kinds of data. The legislation also directs the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to evaluate payment systems that consider individual characteristics rather than just the type of facility at which a patient is treated. The new data to be reported will help illustrate facility performance and could help determine if a payment system that takes patient outcomes into account is preferable.
Additionally, the bill directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to conduct two studies using additional data to determine what effect, if any, socioeconomic and other factors have on quality and resource use measures. To learn more, read the District Policy Group bill summary, written by Legislative Assistant Sarah Williams here.
Read a summary from the Library of Congress here.