Implications of Medicare reimbursement changes related to inpatient nursing care quality.

Recent changes to the inpatient prospective payment system by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will negatively affect reimbursement to hospitals for patients who develop certain types of nursing-sensitive, hospital-acquired conditions such as pressure ulcers, falls with injuries, or nosocomial infections. The author examines the effects of the new payment policy on inpatient nursing care and addresses ways to improve quality and minimize financial impacts to hospitals.