Medicare Program: Renewal of the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment

This notice announces the renewal of the Advisory Panel (the Panel) on Hospital Outpatient Payment (HOP) charter. The charter was approved on November 6, 2014 for a 2-year period effective through November 6, 2016. This notice publicly announces the renewal of the HOP Panel for another 2-year period. The purpose of the Panel is to advise the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) and the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concerning the clinical integrity of the Ambulatory Payment Classification groups and their relative payment weights. The Panel also addresses and makes recommendations regarding supervision of hospital outpatient services. The advice provided by the Panel will be considered as we prepare the annual updates for the hospital outpatient prospective payment system.