Claim Pass Thru Per Diem Amount
Medicare establishes a daily payment amount to reimburse IPPS hospitals for certain "pass-through" expenses, such as capital-related costs, direct medical education costs, kidney acquisition costs for hospitals that are renal transplant centers, and bad debts.
This variable is the daily payment rate for pass-through expenses. It is not included in the CLM_PMT_AMT field.
To determine the total of the pass-through payments for a hospitalization, this field should be multiplied by the claim Medicare utilization day count (CLM_UTLZTN_DAY_CNT). Then, total Medicare payments for a hospitalization claim can be determined by summing this product and the CLM_PMT_AMT field.
Medicare payments are described in detail in a series of Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) documents called "Payment Basics" (see: http://www.medpac.gov/payment_basics.cfm), and also in the Medicare Learning Network (MLN) "Payment System Fact Sheet Series" (see the list of MLN publications at: http://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/MLN-Publications.html).
Some additional information on this variable: