Am J Psychiatry 1990; 147:100-105
Copyright © 1990 by American Psychiatric Association
Transfers of hospitalized psychiatric patients under Medicare's prospective payment system
MP Freiman and LI Sederer
Health Economics Research, Inc., Needham, Mass.
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.
