Caveats of Flat Fee. Groups There are 3 hospital inpatient stays/events that are identified as being part of a flat fee payment group. In general, every flat fee group should have an initial visit (stem) and at least one subsequent visit (leaf). There are some situations where this is not true. For some of these flat fee groups, the initial visit reported occurred in 2009, but the remaining visits that were part of this flat fee group occurred in 2010. In this case, the 2009 flat fee group would consist of one event, the stem. The 2010 events that are part of this flat fee group are not represented on the file. Similarly, the household respondent may have reported a flat fee group where the initial visit began in 2008 but subsequent visits occurred during 2009. In this case, the initial visit would not be represented on the file. This 2009 flat fee group would then only consist of one or more leaf records and no stem.
Caveats of Flat Fee. Groups There are 11 emergency room visits that are identified as being part of a flat fee payment group. In general, every flat fee group should have an initial visit (stem) and at least one subsequent visit (leaf). There are some situations where this is not true. For some flat fee groups, the initial visit reported occurred in 2012, but the remaining visits that were part of this flat fee group occurred in 2013. In this case, the 2012 flat fee group represented on this file would consist of one event, the stem. The 2013 events that are part of this flat fee group are not represented on the file. Similarly, the household respondent may have reported a flat fee group where the initial visit began in 2011 but subsequent visits occurred during 2012. In this case, the initial visit would not be represented on the file. This 2012 flat fee group would then only consist of one or more leaf records and no stem. Please note that the crosswalk in this document lists all possible flat fee variables.
Caveats of Flat Fee. Groups There are 169 outpatient visits that are identified as being part of a flat fee payment group. In general, every flat fee group should have an initial visit (stem) and at least one subsequent visit (leaf). There are some situations where this is not true. For some of these flat fee groups, the initial visit reported occurred in 2011 but the remaining visits that were part of this flat fee group occurred in 2012. In this case, the 2011 flat fee group represented on this file would consist of one event (the stem). The 2012 events that are part of this flat fee group are not represented on the file. Similarly, the household respondent may have reported a flat fee group where the initial visit began in 2010 but subsequent visits occurred during 2011. In this case, the initial visit would not be represented on the file. This 2011 flat fee group would then only consist of one or more leaf records and no stem. Another reason for which a flat fee group would not have a stem and at least one leaf record is that the stem or leaves could have been reported as different event types. Outpatient and office-based medical provider visits are the only two event types allowed in a single flat fee group. The stem may have been reported as an outpatient department visit and the leaves may have been reported as office-based medical provider visits.
Caveats of Flat Fee. Groups The user should note that flat fee payment situations are not common with respect to hospital inpatient stays. Hence, there are only 9 hospital inpatient stay events that are identified as being part of a flat fee payment group. In general, every flat fee group should have an initial visit (stem) and at least one subsequent visit (leaf). There are some situations where this is not true. For some of these flat fee groups, the initial visit reported occurred in 1997 but the remaining visits that were part of this flat fee group occurred in 1998. In this case, the 1997 flat fee group would consist of one event, the stem. The 1997 events that are part of this flat fee group are not represented on the file. Similarly, the household respondent may have reported a flat fee group where the initial visit began in 1996 but subsequent visits occurred during 1997. In this case, the initial visit would not be represented on the file. This 1997 flat fee group would then only consist of one or more leaf records and no stem. Another reason for which a flat fee group would not have a stem and a leaf record is that the stems or leaves could have been reported as different event types. In a small number of cases, there are flat fee bundles that span various event types. The stem may have been reported as one event type and the leaves may have been reported as another event type. In order to determine the different event types in a flat fee group, the analyst must link all MEPS event files (excluding the prescribed medicine file) using the variable FFEEIDX to create the complete flat fee group.
Caveats of Flat Fee. Groups The user should note that flat fee payment situations are not common with respect to home health provider events. There are 18 home health provider events that are identified as being part of a flat fee payment group. In general, every flat fee group should have an initial event (stem) and at least one subsequent event (leaf). There are some situations where this is not true. For some of these flat fee groups, the initial event reported occurred in 1996 but the remaining events that were part of this flat fee group occurred in 1997. In this case, the 1996 flat fee group represented on this file would consist of one event (the stem). The 1997 events that are part of this flat fee group are not represented on this file. Similarly, the household respondent may have reported a flat fee group where the initial event began in 1995 but subsequent events occurred during 1996. In this case, the initial event would not be represented on the file. This 1996 flat fee group would then only consist of one or more leaf records and no stem. Another reason for which a flat fee group would not have a stem and a leaf record is that the stems or leaves could have been reported as different event types.
