Which inflation measures are used for HOPDs and ASCs respectively?

• A. Hospital Market Basket for HOPDs; Consumer Price Index for ASCs
• B. Consumer Price Index for HOPDs; Hospital Market Basket for ASCs
• C. Personal Consumption Expenditures for both
• D. Producer Price Index for HOPDs; CPI for ASCs

Answer: (A)

The key idea is that different outpatient settings have their costs updated using indexes that reflect where those costs come from. Hospital Outpatient Departments are updated using the Hospital Market Basket, which is built from the input costs specific to hospital outpatient operations—things like particular supplies, labor, and other hospital-centric expenses. Ambulatory Surgical Centers, by contrast, have updates tied to the Consumer Price Index, a broad measure of consumer price changes that aligns more with the non-hospital, outpatient market environment in which ASCs operate. So the pairing of Hospital Market Basket for HOPDs with CPI for ASCs matches how CMS routes inflation updates for these settings. The other options mix up the indexes or rely on measures (like PCE or PPI) that aren’t used for updating these outpatient facility payments.