Groups ask for delay in provider-based rule

Several organizations, including the Chicago-based American Hospital Association, have asked the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) to delay implementation of its provider-based designation rule for at least six months. At press time, the rule was scheduled to take effect Oct. 10.

In a letter dated Aug. 25, the groups said they are particularly concerned that the wording of the final rule doesn’t reflect the agency’s intent for the rule as expressed to the groups in a face-to-face meeting on July 24. For example, the regulations state that all entities, including inpatient departments within the physical confines of a hospital, must apply for provider-based status if the department provides any outpatient services. In the July 24 meeting, HCFA staff said that was not the agency’s intent, the letter stated.

"Hospitals are now placed in the untenable position of having to choose between compliance with a regulatory requirement that does not reflect agency intent, or relying on assurances that no penalties will attach for failure to apply," the letter said.