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Medicare Is Dropping Two Alcohol and Tobacco Measures from Its Quality Program for Psychiatric Hospitals
['Dorothy Brooks']
Medical Daily
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized the removal on July 29 in its annual payment rule for inpatient psychiatric facilities.
The Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting Program is a pay-for-reporting program, not a pay-for-performance program.
So the removal does not prohibit anyone from offering alcohol brief intervention or tobacco treatment, and it does not repeal any clinical guideline.
The bottom line: two measures covering alcohol brief intervention and tobacco treatment at discharge are leaving Medicare's psychiatric quality program starting with 2026 data.
What should a family ask before a psychiatric discharge?