title: Challenges and opportunities for Medicare's original prospective payment system.
abstract: The Medicare program initiated prospective payment for inpatient hospital services in 1983. Although the payment system has achieved many of its goals, changes in the health care market and the public nature of the program will continue to present both challenges and opportunities for improvement. Looking forward, policymakers must consider how to balance paying accurately for services with using Medicare to achieve broader policy objectives. Paying for new technologies, responding to market segmentation and specialization, and encouraging quality improvement must also be addressed. To successfully navigate these issues, policymakers and program administrators need accurate and timely information.
authors.affiliation: Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), Washington, DC, USA.
authors.forename: Chantal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Worzala
authors.forename: Julian
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Pettengill
authors.forename: Jack
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ashby
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D020811:Biomedical Technology / Q000191:economics; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care; D003660:Decision Support Systems, Management; D005544:Forecasting; D006782:Hospitals, Special / Q000191:economics / Q000600:supply & distribution; D006801:Humans; D006278:Medicare / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011445:Prospective Payment System / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000639:trends; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States