Description

Every October 1, the IPPS and LTCH PPS Final Rule resets the financial rules of inpatient care, and every year, hospitals that treat it as a coding-department memo instead of an enterprise event leave money on the table and compliance gaps on the record. The FY 2026 rule is no exception: CMS has finalized changes to MS-DRG classifications, relative weights, and payment rates that will directly move Medicare reimbursement and case-mix for both acute care and long-term care hospitals. If your organization has not yet modeled the impact, your FY 2026 budget is built on FY 2025 assumptions.

The payment changes are only half the story. The rule also modifies the quality and value-based landscape, value-based purchasing, the HAC Reduction Program, and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, and layers on new documentation and reporting expectations around electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs), health equity, and SDOH data. Each of these carries payment consequences, and each demands coordination across compliance, coding, CDI, revenue cycle, and finance long before the effective date.

In this 60-minute briefing, a nationally recognized coding, auditing, and compliance educator breaks down the FY 2026 IPPS and LTCH PPS updates into a practical readiness plan: what changed, what it means for reimbursement and case-mix, where your quality-program exposure sits, which documentation requirements are new, and how to educate and align every affected team before October 1. Hospitals that walk into Q4 without this preparation will discover the changes the expensive way, one denied or underpaid claim at a time.

After this webinar attendees will be able to answer-

• What are the major policy, payment, and quality reporting updates CMS finalized in the FY 2026 IPPS and LTCH PPS Final Rule, including changes to MS-DRG classifications, relative weights, and payment rates?
• How will the new payment policies shift Medicare reimbursement and case-mix adjustments for acute care and long-term care hospitals, and what does that do to your budget?
• What has changed in value-based purchasing, the Hospital-Acquired Conditions (HAC) Reduction Program, and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), and where is your performance exposure?
• Which new or updated documentation and reporting requirements, including eCQMs, health equity, and SDOH data, will affect your compliance posture in FY 2026?
• How should the FY 2026 policies reshape hospital budgeting, resource planning, CDI strategies, and coding and auditing processes across departments?
• What education and alignment plan gets compliance, coding, CDI, revenue cycle, and finance teams ready before the October 1 effective date?

This webinar benefits the following agencies-

• Acute Care Hospitals and Health Systems
• Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs)
• Clinics and Physician Practices with Inpatient Services
• Revenue Cycle Management Companies
• Coding, Auditing, and CDI Vendors
• Home Health Agencies and Post-Acute Partners
• Healthcare Compliance Consulting Firms

Who should attend?

• Hospital Administrators and Health System Administrators
• Chief Compliance Officers and Compliance Team Leadership
• Internal Auditors, Coding Auditors, and Revenue Integrity Auditors
• C-Suite Executives (CEOs, CFOs, COOs, Chief Medical Officers)
• HIM, Coding, and CDI Directors and Managers
• Revenue Cycle and Finance Leadership