CMS Proposal Would Boost Outpatient Knee Replacements

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has proposed removing knee replacements from the Medicare “inpatient only” list of procedures starting next year, a step that may spur movement of the surgeries from hospitals to ambulatory centers. CMS is also seeking comment on whether partial and total hip arthroplasty should be removed from the inpatient-only list. The proposed rule was published in the Federal Register on July 20 and comment will be accepted through Sept. 11. The CMS proposal comes as some are predicting an increase in the number of knee replacements that will b...