CMS Suppresses NHSN HAI Measures Due to COVID Pandemic

1/13/22 — In the FY 2022 Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) final rule, CMS implemented a “Measure Suppression Policy.” Under this policy, CMS will not use certain measures (including NHSN HAI measures) from the Q3 and Q4 2020 reporting periods for performance scoring in the Hospital-Acquired Condition (HAC) Reduction Program and the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program.

• The measures will not be used for payment determination in the HAC Reduction Program for the FY 2022 and FY 2023 payment years.
• Measures will not be used for payment determination in the VBP Program for the remainder of the COVID-19 public health emergency.

Although the measures will not be used in the determination of Medicare reimbursement to hospitals, CMS will continue to provide feedback reports on these measures to hospitals and will report the data on its “Care Compare” website, with acknowledgement that the data were reported during the public health emergency.

Questions? Please contact us at legislation@apic.org.