ABSTRACT
Introduction Prospective payment systems (PPSs) have been developed for various types of health services. While there are numerous variations with different PPSs, there are also some distinctly common features for any given PPS. e common features include
◾ Payment is fixed in advance, generally on an annual basis. ◾ A classification system is used to sort and categorize services provided and items rendered. ◾ A unit of service is predefined to identify services for which grouping to the categories occurs
and payment is made. ◾ Significant bundling occurs within the given categorization process. ◾ A payment rate is determined for each of the categories in the classification. ◾ Payment for a bundle of services incentivizes healthcare providers to be more efficient in
providing services.
