Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

More 'approved' procedures to come, along with major payment-system revamp.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is revealing Medicare payment information for ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs).

This release of data, which includes payment information on 61 procedures performed in ASCs, follows CMS' June release of payment information on 41 procedures performed in inpatient hospital settings.

As part of President Bush's health care transparency initiative, CMS has posted the ASC payment data on its Web site at www.cms.hhs.gov/HealthCareConInit/, where patients can access it. "The new information on services performed in ASCs adds to the information that people can use to make better decisions on their care," said CMS administrator Mark McClellan in an Aug. 21 statement.

The data will show "Commonly Performed Procedures in ASCs" and "will contain charge and Medicare payment data for ASC facility costs for a limited number of services administered in states and counties," CMS explains. "The data is broken down at the county, state and national level," the agency adds.

Also, as part of CMS' proposed revisions to the ASC payment system, the agency plans to release a more extensive list of approved procedures in ASCs beginning in 2008, CMS announced. All surgical procedures--except for those that require an overnight stay or pose a significant safety risk--would appear on the approved list.