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[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 190 (Wednesday, October 1, 2014)]
[Rules and Regulations]
[Pages 59121-59123]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-23382]

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DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

42 CFR Part 412

[CMS-1608-CN]
RIN 0938-AS09

Medicare Program; Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective 
Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2015; Correction

ACTION: Final rule; Correction.

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SUMMARY: This document corrects technical errors that appeared in the 
final rule with comment period published in the Federal Register on 
August 6, 2014 entitled ``Medicare Program; Inpatient Rehabilitation 
Facility Prospective Payment System for Federal Fiscal Year 2015'' (79 
FR 45872).

DATES: The corrections are effective October 1, 2014.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
    Gwendolyn Johnson, (410) 786-6954, for general information.
    Charles Padgett, (410) 786-2811, for information about the quality 
reporting program.
    Kadie Thomas, (410) 786-0468, or Susanne Seagrave, (410) 786-0044, 
for information about the payment policies and the proposed payment 
rates.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: 

I. Background

    In FR Doc. 2014-18447 of August 6, 2014 (79 FR 45872), there were a 
number of technical errors, which are identified and corrected in the 
``Summary of Errors'' and ``Correction of Errors'' sections of this 
correction document. The provisions of this correction document are 
effective as if they had been included in the document published on 
August 6, 2014. Accordingly, the corrections are effective October 1, 
2014.

II. Summary of Errors

    On page 45910, in Table 8: Quality Measures Finalized in the FY 
2014 IRF PPS Final Rule Affecting the FY 2016 and 2017 Adjustments to 
the IRF Annual Increase Factors and Subsequent Year Increase Factors, 
we inadvertently omitted the fiscal years affected by each of the 
listed quality measures, and therefore, are correcting the table.
    On page 45911, in our discussion of the FY 2014 IRF PPS final rule, 
we made a typographical error in

[[Page 59122]]

identifying the Federal Register citation.
    On page 45915, we inadvertently referred to ``future year IRP PPS 
increase factors'' instead of ``future year IRF PPS increase factors.''
    On page 45917, in our discussion of the Continuity Assessment 
Record and Evaluation (CARE) items, we inadvertently provided an 
incorrect hyperlink to the CARE reports.
    On page 45918, in Table 11: Summary of IRF QRP Measures Affecting 
the FY 2017 Adjustments to the IRF PPS Annual Increase Factor and 
Subsequent Year Increase Factors, we inadvertently omitted the 
superscripts at the end of the sixth and seventh bulleted items.
    On page 45921, in our discussion of the IRF Quality Reporting 
Program (QRP) data completion thresholds, we made a technical error 
regarding the monthly submission of quality data. We require quarterly 
submission of healthcare-associated infection data for the National 
Health Safety Network (NHSN) Catheter-Associated Urinary Tract 
Infection (CAUTI) Outcome Measure (NQF 0138); quarterly 
submission of vaccination data for the Percent of Residents or Patients 
Who Were Assessed and Appropriately Given the Seasonal Influenza 
Vaccine (Short-Stay) (NQF 0680) measure; and annual submission 
of vaccination data for the Influenza Vaccination Coverage among 
Healthcare Personnel (NQF 0431) measure. However, the data 
submitted for each measure must cover each month of the applicable 
reporting period.
    On page 45922, we made a typographical error in describing where 
the IRF QRP quality data items can be found in the IRF Patient 
Assessment Instrument (PAI) training manual.
    On page 45922, in our discussion of the IRF PAI training manual, we 
inadvertently provided an incorrect hyperlink to the manual.

III. Waiver of Proposed Rulemaking

    In accordance with section 553(b) of the Administrative Procedure 
Act (APA) (5 U.S.C. 553(b)), we ordinarily publish a notice of proposed 
rulemaking in the Federal Register to provide a period for public 
comment before the provisions of a rule take effect. However, we can 
waive this notice-and-comment procedure if the Secretary finds, for 
good cause, that the notice and comment process is impracticable, 
unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and incorporates a 
statement of the finding and the reasons therefor into the notice.
    Section 553(d) of the APA ordinarily requires a 30-day delay in the 
effective date of final rules after the date of their publication in 
the Federal Register. This 30-day delay in the effective date can be 
waived, however, if an agency finds for good cause that the delay is 
impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest, and the 
agency incorporates a statement of the findings and its reasons in the 
rule issued.
    This document merely corrects typographical and technical errors in 
the preamble of the FY 2015 IRF PPS final rule. The provisions of that 
final rule have been subjected to notice-and-comment procedures. The 
corrections contained in this document are truly technical and/or 
typographical and do not make substantive changes to the policies and 
payment methodologies that were adopted in the FY 2015 IRF PPS final 
rule. Therefore, we find for good cause that it is unnecessary and 
would be contrary to the public interest to undertake further notice-
and-comment procedures to incorporate the corrections in this document 
into the FY 2015 IRF PPS final rule. For the same reasons, we find that 
there is good cause to waive the 30-day delay in the effective date for 
these corrections. Specifically, we believe that it is in the public 
interest to ensure that the FY 2015 IRF PPS final rule accurately 
reflects our policies as of the date they take effect. Therefore, we 
find that delaying the effective date of these corrections beyond the 
effective date of the final rule would be contrary to the public 
interest. In so doing, we find good cause to waive the 30-day delay in 
effective date.

IV. Correction of Errors

    In FR Doc. 2014-18447 of August 6, 2014 (79 FR 45872), make the 
following corrections:
    1. On page 45910, Table 8: Quality Measures Finalized in the FY 
2014 IRF PPS Final Rule Affecting the FY 2016 and 2017 Adjustments to 
the IRF Annual Increase Factors and Subsequent Year Increase Factors, 
the table is corrected to read as follows:

  Table 8--Quality Measures Finalized in the FY 2014 IRF PPS Final Rule
  Affecting the FY 2016 and 2017 Adjustments to the IRF Annual Increase
              Factors and Subsequent Year Increase Factors
------------------------------------------------------------------------
     NQF measure ID                       Measure title
------------------------------------------------------------------------
NQF 0431 \+\..  Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Healthcare
                          Personnel (affecting the FY 2016 adjustment to
                          the IRF annual increase factor and subsequent
                          year increase factors).
NQF 0680*.....  Percent of Residents or Patients Who Were
                          Assessed and Appropriately Given the Seasonal
                          Influenza Vaccine (Short-Stay) (affecting the
                          FY 2017 adjustment to the IRF annual increase
                          factor and subsequent year increase factors).
NQF 0678*.....  Percent of Residents or Patients with Pressure
                          Ulcers That Are New or Worsened (Short-Stay)--
                          Adoption of the NQF-Endorsed Version of this
                          Measure. (affecting the FY 2016 adjustment to
                          the IRF annual increase factor and subsequent
                          year increase factors).
NQF 2502**....  All-Cause Unplanned Readmission Measure for 30
                          Days Post-Discharge from Inpatient
                          Rehabilitation Facilities (affecting the FY
                          2016 adjustment to the IRF annual increase
                          factor and subsequent year increase factors).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
\+\Using the CDC NHSN.
* Using the IRF-PAI Version 1.2 that is effective on October 1, 2014;
  available at http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/InpatientRehabFacPPS/Downloads/IRF-PAI-FINAL-for-Use-Oct2014-updated-v4.pdf.
** Not NQF-endorsed, currently under review by NQF. (See http://
  www.qualityforum.org/All-CauseAdmissionsandReadmissionsMeasures.aspx)

    2. On page 45911, first column, section C.1, first paragraph, lines 
2 and 3, the Federal Register citation ``78 FR 47094'' is corrected to 
read ``78 FR 47904.''
    3. On page 45915, first column following Table 9, first paragraph, 
line 3, the acronym ``IRP'' is corrected to read ``IRF.''
    4. On page 45917, first column, lines 9 through 18, the hyperlink, 
``http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-
Instruments/Post-Acute-CareQualityInitiatives/Downloads/The-
Development-and-Testing-of-the-Continuity-Assessment-Record-and-

[[Page 59123]]

Evaluation-CARE-Item-Set-Final-Report-on-the-Development-of-the-CARE-
Item-Set-and-Current-Assessment-Comparisons-Volume-3-of-3.pdf.'' is 
corrected to read ``http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-
Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Post-Acute-Care-Quality-Initiatives/
Downloads/The-Development-and-Testing-of-the-Continuity-Assessment-
Record-and-Evaluation-CARE-Item-Set-Final-Report-on-the-Development-of-
the-CARE-Item-Set-and-Current-Assessment-Comparisons-Volume-3-of-
3.pdf.''
    5. On page 45917, first column, lines 19 through 27, the hyperlink, 
``http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-
Instruments/Post-Acute-Care-Quality-Initiatives/Downloads/The-
Development-and-Testing-of-the-Continuity-Assessment-Record-and-
Evaluation-CARE-Item-Set-Final-Report-on-the-Development-of-the-CARE-
Item-Set-Volume-1-of-3.pdf.'' is corrected to read ``http://
www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-
Instruments/Post-Acute-Care-Quality-Initiatives/Downloads/The-
Development-and-Testing-of-the-Continuity-Assessment-Record-and-
Evaluation-CARE-Item-Set-Final-Report-on-the-Development-of-the-CARE-
Item-Set-Volume-1-of-3.pdf.''
    6. On page 45918, Table 11: Summary of IRF QRP Measures Affecting 
the FY 2017 Adjustments to the IRF PPS Annual Increase Factor and 
Subsequent Year Increase Factors, the superscript ``+''is added at the 
end of ``NQF 1716: National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) 
Facility-Wide Inpatient Hospital-Onset Methicillin-Resistant 
Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) Bacteremia Outcome Measure.''
    7. On page 45918, Table 11: Summary of IRF QRP Measures Affecting 
the FY 2017 Adjustments to the IRF PPS Annual Increase Factor and 
Subsequent Year Increase Factors, the superscript ``+''is added at the 
end of ``NQF 1717: National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) 
Facility-Wide Inpatient Hospital-Onset Clostridium difficile Infection 
(CDI) Outcome Measure.''
    8. On page 45921, first column, section J, first paragraph, lines 
17 through 20, the phrase ``monthly submission of such quality data for 
the healthcare-associated infection or vaccination data'' is corrected 
to read ``submission of healthcare-associated infection or vaccination 
data covering each month of the applicable reporting period.''
    9. On page 45922, first column, line 8, the phrase ``Chapter 4'' is 
corrected to read ``Section 4.''
    10. On page 45922, first column, lines 11 through 15, the 
hyperlink, ``http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-
Assessment-Instruments/IRF-Quality-Reporting/'' ``is corrected to read 
``http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-
Instruments/IRF-Quality-Reporting/Training.html.''

    Dated: September 25, 2014.
C'Reda Weeden,
Executive Secretary to the Department, Department of Health and Human 
Services.
[FR Doc. 2014-23382 Filed 9-30-14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4120-01-P
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