Medicare's reimbursement policy provides payment incentives for
hospitals to transfer psychiatric patients to another acute-care facility,
especially when the destination facility is exempt from Medicare's
prospective payment system. The authors found, however, that transfers were
relatively infrequent in 1985, accounting for only approximately 3.4% of
all psychiatric hospitalizations under Medicare. The most common type of
transfer was from a nonspecialized general hospital bed to a
Medicare-exempt psychiatric unit within the same hospital. Given that
increasing financial pressures may result in a rise in the number of
transfers, the authors discuss potential reforms of Medicare reimbursement
for these cases.Abstract Teaser