CMS Issues 2021 Hospital Outpatient Department and ASC Payment Final Rule

On Dec. 2, CMS published the 2021 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment final rule. Provisions of interest to neurosurgery include:

• A three-year transition to eliminate the inpatient-only (IPO) list;
• Modifications to certain expansion limits for physician-owned facilities;
• The establishment of two new categories of services requiring prior authorization — cervical fusion with disc removal and implanted spinal neurostimulators; and
• Revised criteria for the ASC list, including several neurosurgical procedures.

Click here for the CMS press release and here for the CMS fact sheet.