New resource: Free radiology inpatient cost evaluation tool for bundled payments
A new online tool to help radiology practices and hospitals determine if they should implement bundled payment strategies has been launched by the Harvey L. Neiman Health Policy Institute in Reston, VA on its website. The Inpatient Cost Evaluation Tool (ICE-T) enables comparison of the internal costs of radiology practices and hospitals to national benchmarks.
The Neiman Health Policy Institute proactively developed this operational tool in advance of other medical specialties to help radiology providers make critical decisions by showing where effective costs and risks are, senior director for health policy research Danny R. Hughes, Ph.D., stated in a press release. The medical imaging socioeconomic research organization studies the role and value of radiology and radiologists in evolving health care delivery and payment systems. It also studies the impact of medical imaging on the cost, quality, safety, and efficiency of health care.
A bundled payment is a single payment that covers services delivered by two or more health providers during a single episode of care over a specific time. The bundled payment method is a major component of healthcare reform to prompt the delivery of improved patient outcomes at lower costs.
“There are many factors to consider when hospitals and radiology practices are looking at developing and participating in bundled payments. ICE-T eases that transition, focusing on value, variance, and volume and providing national average benchmark price points,” Hughes said.
ICE-T contains data on total hospital reimbursement, total imaging reimbursements, and the imaging share of reimbursements across inpatient diagnosis-related groups for Medicare claims data. The Neiman Institute, which has aggregated years of national inpatient Medicare data by diagnostic radiology groups, presents this data in an easy-to use graphical interface.
The app includes a Compare and Rank data tool which explains which services — grouped in diagnostic related groups (DRGs) are bet to bundle. The Compare and Rank tools provide data on inpatient DRG frequency, cost quartiles, and rank using several years of national Medicare Part A and Part B claims data.
An extensive Interpretation section provides a detailed introduction into bundled payment services. It includes an explanation of the new Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) bundled payment from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and a framework for understanding common bundling payment models. The app also includes a reference glossary.
The ICE-T app may be accessed at: www.neimanhpi.org.