2018-01474. Medicare Program; Request for Nominations to the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment

AGENCY:

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

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is requesting nominations to fill vacancies on the Advisory Panel (the Panel) on Hospital Outpatient Payment (HOP). The purpose of the Panel is to advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (the Administrator) on the clinical integrity of the Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) groups and their associated weights, and supervision of hospital outpatient therapeutic services.

DATES:

The agency will receive nominations on a continuous basis.

ADDRESSES:

Please submit nominations electronically to the following email address: [e-mail].

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

Persons wishing to nominate individuals to serve on the Panel or to obtain further information may submit an email to the following email address: [e-mail].

News Media: Representatives should contact the CMS Press Office at [phone].

Website: For additional information on the HOP Panel, updates to the Panel's activities, and submission of nominations to the HOP Panel, we refer readers to our website at: http://www.cms.gov/​Regulations-and-Guidance/​Guidance/​FACA/​AdvisoryPanelonAmbulatoryPaymentClassificationGroups.html.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Background

The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (the Secretary) is required by section 1833(t)(9)(A) of the Social Security Act (the Act), and allowed by section 222 of the Public Health Service Act (PHS Act) to consult with an expert outside panel, that is, the Advisory Panel (the Panel) on Hospital Outpatient Payment (HOP) regarding the clinical integrity of the Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) groups and relative payment weights that are components of the Medicare Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS), and the appropriate supervision level for hospital outpatient therapeutic services. The Panel is governed by the provisions of the Federal Advisory Committee Act (FACA) (Pub. L. 92-463), as amended (5 U.S.C. Appendix 2), which sets forth standards for the formation and use of advisory panels. The Panel may consider data collected or developed by entities and organizations (other than the Department of Health and Human Services) as part of their deliberations.

We consider the technical advice provided by the Panel as we prepare both the proposed and final rulemaking to update the OPPS for the following calendar year (CY).

On May 20, 2016, we published a notice in the Federal Register that announced the August 2016 summer panel meeting and the transition to one meeting of the panel per year (81 FR 31941).

II. Request for Nominations; Criteria for Nominees

The Panel shall consist of a chair and up to 15 members who are full-time employees of hospitals, hospital systems, or other Medicare providers that are subject to the OPPS. For supervision deliberations, the Panel shall also include members that represent the interests of Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs), who advise the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) only regarding the level of supervision for hospital outpatient therapeutic services. (For purposes of the Panel, consultants or independent contractors are not considered to be full-time employees in these organizations.)

The HOP Panel currently consists of 13 panel members. Two additional vacancies will occur in CY 2018. The list of HOP Panel members is located in the FACA database, Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment Committee page, on the FACA database website at: https://www.facadatabase.gov/​committee/​committee.aspx?​cid=​1791&​aid=​76.

Panel members serve on a voluntary basis, without compensation, according to an advance written agreement; however, for the meetings, CMS reimburses travel, meals, lodging, and related expenses in accordance with standard Government travel regulations. CMS has a special interest in ensuring, while taking into account the nominee pool, that the Panel is diverse in all respects of the following: Geography; rural or urban practice; race, ethnicity, sex, and disability; medical or technical specialty; and type of hospital, hospital health system, or other Medicare provider subject to the OPPS. Appointment to the HOP Panel shall be made without discrimination on the basis of age, race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, and cultural, religious, or socioeconomic status.

Based upon either self-nominations or nominations submitted by providers or interested organizations, the Secretary, or his or her designee, appoints new members to the Panel from among those candidates determined to have the required expertise. New appointments are made in a manner that ensures a balanced membership under the FACA guidelines. This notice requests nominations for HOP Panel members on a continuous basis. Nominations for a person not serving on the committee may be reconsidered as committee vacancies arise, but should be updated and resubmitted no later than 3 years after the original nomination submittal to continue to be considered for committee vacancies. CMS will consider the nominations submitted in response to the notice published in the Federal Register on December 23, 2016, entitled “Medicare Program; Renewal of the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment and Solicitation of Nominations to the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment” (81 FR 94378), unless they are withdrawn or the nominees' qualifications have changed. Nominations will be considered as vacancies occur.

The Panel must be balanced in its membership in terms of the points of view represented and the functions to be performed. Each panel member must be employed full-time by a hospital, hospital system, or other Medicare provider subject to payment under the OPPS (except for the CAH members, since CAHs are not paid under the OPPS). All members must have technical expertise to enable them to participate fully in the Panel's work. Such expertise encompasses hospital payment systems; hospital medical care delivery systems; provider billing systems; APC groups; Current Procedural Terminology codes; and alpha-numeric Health Care Common Procedure Coding System codes; and the use of, and payment for, drugs, medical devices, and other services in the outpatient setting, as well as other forms of relevant expertise. For supervision deliberations, the Panel shall have members that represent the interests of CAHs, who advise CMS only regarding the level of supervision for hospital outpatient therapeutic services.

It is not necessary for a nominee to possess expertise in all of the areas listed, but each must have a minimum of 5 years of experience and currently have full-time employment in his or her area of expertise. Generally, members of the Panel serve overlapping terms up to 4 years, based on the needs of the Panel and contingent upon the rechartering of the Panel. A member may serve after the expiration of his or her term until a successor has been sworn in.

Any interested person or organization may nominate qualified individuals. Self-nominations will also be accepted. Each nomination must include the following:

• Letter of Nomination stating the reasons why the nominee should be considered.
• Curriculum vitae or resume of the nominee that includes an email address where the nominee can be contacted.
• Written and signed statement from the nominee that the nominee is willing to serve on the Panel under the conditions described in this notice and further specified in the Charter.
• The hospital or hospital system name and address, or CAH name and address, as well as all Medicare hospital and or Medicare CAH billing numbers of the facility where the nominee is employed.

Future updates or changes to the panel nomination process may be published in the Federal Register or posted on the CMS Advisory Panel for Hospital Outpatient Payment website, referenced in section II, “Request for Nominations; Criteria for Nominees,” of this notice.

IV. Copies of the Charter

To obtain a copy of the Panel's Charter, we refer readers to our website at: http://www.cms.gov/​Regulations-and-Guidance/​Guidance/​FACA/​AdvisoryPanelonAmbulatoryPaymentClassificationGroups.html.

V. Collection of Information Requirements

This document does not impose information collection requirements, that is, reporting, recordkeeping or third-party disclosure requirements. Consequently, there is no need for review by the Office of Management and Budget under the authority of the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (44 U.S.C. 3501 et seq.).

Dated: January 12, 2018.

Seema Verma,

Administrator, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.