Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT)
On September 18, 2014, Congress passed the IMPACT Act. The Act requires the submission of standardized data by long-term-care hospitals (LTCHs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), home health agencies (HHAs), and inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs). The IMPACT Act requires, among other significant activities, the reporting of standardized patient assessment data with regard to quality measures, resource use, and other measures.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) specifically provides the following Measure Domains to be standardized under the IMPACT Act:
- Skin integrity and changes in skin integrity
- Functional status, cognitive function, and changes in function and cognitive function
- Medication reconciliation
- Incidence of major falls
- Transfer of health information and care preferences when an individual transitions
- Resource use measures, including total estimated Medicare spending per beneficiary
- Discharge to community
- All-condition risk-adjusted potentially preventable hospital readmissions rates.
- The IMPACT Act: What You Need To Know
- The Role of Occupational therapy in Assessing Functional Cognition
- February 22, 2016, issue of OT Practice, Client-Centered Focus: CMS’ Discharge Planning Proposal and the IMPACT Act (p. 6)
- CMS IMPACT Act of 2014 Homepage