Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

A Preliminary Analysis Of Beneficiary Discharge Status And Post-Hospital Placement Before And After The Implementation Of Medicare's Prospective Payment System, Anne Marguerite Wilkinson

Dissertations and Theses

In recognition of the inherently inflationary nature of retrospective reimbursement, the Reagan Administration enacted legislation that substantially changed Medicare's hospital reimbursement system. The Prospective Payment System (PPS) mandated paying hospitals a fixed payment, set in advance, based on the patient's diagnosis rather than retrospectively paying for all services delivered to a patient. Critics contend that PPS introduces incentives for hospitals to conserve resources during the hospital stay and to shift care to less costly settings, both potentially affecting quality of care to the elderly. The question addressed by this dissertation is whether there were changes in the discharge health status …