Marc Zimmet

Daily pay rates in November under the Patient Driven Payment Model were above federal regulators’ forecast by an estimated 5.27%, a report released in late January by the Zimmet Healthcare Services Group and CORE Analytics program found.

But in many cases, overall (prorated) provider revenue was below base-year projections due to “atrophy” of the Medicare fee-for-service population, Zimmet CEO Marc Zimmet explained. 

“Provider per diem rates are up under PDPM more than expected, but it’s all heavily impacted by local market conditions,” Zimmet cautioned.

PDPM is structurally sound but may be highly sensitive to poorly targeted funding adjustments, report authors noted.