[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 52 (Tuesday, March 18, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 15032-15033]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-05836]



[[Page 15032]]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

42 CFR Parts 412, 413, 424, and 476

[CMS-1588-CN5]
RIN 0938-AR12


Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems 
for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital Prospective 
Payment System and Fiscal Year 2013 Rates; Hospitals' Resident Caps for 
Graduate Medical Education Payment Purposes; Quality Reporting 
Requirements for Specific Providers and for Ambulatory Surgical 
Centers; Corrections

AGENCY: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HHS.

ACTION: Final rule; correction.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the 
final rule that appeared in the August 31, 2012 Federal Register 
entitled ``Medicare Program; Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment 
Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the Long Term Care Hospital 
Prospective Payment System and Fiscal Year 2013 Rates; Hospitals' 
Resident Caps for Graduate Medical Education Payment Purposes; Quality 
Reporting Requirements for Specific Providers and for Ambulatory 
Surgical Centers.''

DATES: This correcting document is effective on March 18, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Cindy Tourison (410) 786-1093.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

    In FR Doc. 2012-19079, which appeared in the August 31, 2012 
Federal Register (77 FR 53258) entitled ``Medicare Program; Hospital 
Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems for Acute Care Hospitals and the 
Long Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System and Fiscal Year 2013 
Rates; Hospitals' Resident Caps for Graduate Medical Education Payment 
Purposes; Quality Reporting Requirements for Specific Providers and for 
Ambulatory Surgical Centers'' there were technical errors that are 
identified and corrected in the Correction of Errors section of this 
correcting document.

II. Summary of Errors in the Preamble

    On page 53602 and 53603, we inadvertently included Medicare 
Advantage (MA) claims in our calculation of the final performance 
standards that apply to the PSI-90 measure for the FY 2015 and FY 2016 
Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program.
    We also note that we have made similar corrections to the FY 2014 
IPPS/LTCH PPS final rule and these corrections are published elsewhere 
in this issue of the Federal Register.

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking and Delay of Effective Date

    We ordinarily publish a notice of proposed rulemaking in the 
Federal Register to provide a period for public comment before the 
provisions of a rule take effect in accordance with section 553(b) of 
the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)). However, we 
can waive this notice and comment procedure if the Secretary finds, for 
good cause, that the notice and comment process is impracticable, 
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and incorporates a 
statement of the finding and the reasons therefore in the notice.
    Section 553(d) of the APA ordinarily requires a 30-day delay in 
effective date of final rules after the date of their publication in 
the Federal Register. This 30-day delay in effective date can be 
waived, however, if an agency finds for good cause that the delay is 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and the 
agency incorporates a statement of the findings and its reasons in the 
rule issued.
    In our view, this correcting document does not constitute a rule 
that would be subject to the APA notice and comment or delayed 
effective date requirements. This correcting document corrects 
technical errors in certain HVBP tables but does not make substantive 
changes to the HVBP policies that were adopted in the final rule. As a 
result, this correcting document is intended to ensure that the HVBP 
tables accurately reflect the policies adopted in that final rule.
    In addition, even if this were a rule to which the notice and 
comment procedures and delayed effective date requirements applied, we 
find that there is good cause to waive such requirements. Undertaking 
further notice and comment procedures to incorporate the corrections in 
this document into the final rule or delaying the effective date would 
be contrary to the public interest because it is in the public's 
interest for providers to receive appropriate corrected table values in 
as timely a manner as possible, and to ensure that the FY 2013 IPPS/
LTCH PPS final rule accurately reflects our HVBP policies. Furthermore, 
such procedures would be unnecessary, as we are not altering our HVBP 
policies, but rather, we are simply implementing correctly the policy 
for calculating certain HVBP table values that we previously proposed, 
received comment on, and subsequently finalized. This correcting 
document is intended solely to ensure that the FY 2013 IPPS/LTCH PPS 
final rule accurately reflects these HVBP policies. Therefore, we 
believe we have good cause to waive the notice and comment and 
effective date requirements.

IV. Correction of Errors

    In FR Doc. 2012-19079 of August 31, 2012 (77 FR 53258), make the 
following corrections:
    1. On pages 53601 and 53602, in the table entitled ``FINAL 
PERFORMANCE STANDARDS FOR THE FY 2015 HOSPITAL VBP PROGRAM CLINICAL 
PROCESS OF CARE, OUTCOME, AND EFFICIENCY DOMAINS,'' the performance 
standards for the PSI-90 Measure are corrected to read as follows:

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Achievement
         Measure ID                               Description                        threshold       Benchmark
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Outcome Measures
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PSI-90......................  Patient safety for selected indicators (composite)        0.616248        0.449988
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    2. On page 53603, in the table entitled ``FINAL PERFORMANCE 
STANDARDS FOR FY 2016 HOSPITAL VBP PROGRAMS OUTCOME DOMAIN: MORTALITY/
PSI COMPOSITE MEASURES,'' the performance standards for the PSI-90 
Measure are corrected to read as follows:

[[Page 15033]]



----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                                                    Achievement
         Measure ID                               Description                        threshold       Benchmark
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                                                Outcome Measures
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PSI-90......................  Patient safety for selected indicators (composite)        0.616248        0.449988
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.778, Medical 
Assistance Program)

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Program No. 93.773, 
Medicare--Hospital Insurance; and Program No. 93.774, Medicare--
Supplementary Medical Insurance Program)

    Dated: March 6, 2014.
Jennifer M. Cannistra,
Executive Secretary to the Department, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2014-05836 Filed 3-17-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P