Non-substantive Change Justification

Non-Substantive Change Request to CMS-10638; OMB-0938-1347

This is a non-substantive change PRA approval request for CMS to collect information collected on the current CMS-10638 paper application entitled Application for New Medical Services and Technologies Seeking to Qualify for Add-On Payments Under the Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS), in a new module in the application intake system, MEARIS^TM. The electronic intake version of the application is currently near completion and is anticipated to go live in MEARIS^TM by mid-July 2022 in time for the yearly application cycle, which opens in August of each year. If we do not receive approval by OMB by the end of July, we will be unable to implement the new application in MEARIS^TM, which will delay implementation until August of next year. The delay will cause cost overruns in our contract with the system developer. Also, CMS has made a proposal in this year’s FY 2023 IPPS rule to post the applications we receive this year publicly to increase transparency. Should we finalize this proposal, we will be unable to publicly post the applications in the MEARIS^TM system as planned because the applications will not be in the system.

The electronic form is essentially identical to the paper application form (CMS-10638, OMB 0938-1347) except for a few minor, non-substantive changes to either accommodate the web format or further provide simplification or clarification of the existing questions. We are not requesting any new information. Please refer to our crosswalk document for a more detailed comparison of the differences between the paper and electronic intake application. We consider all of the changes to be non-substantive since they do not constitute changes to the intent or substance of the current application, but only simplify or clarify the content and streamline the reporting process. These changes have no impact on the previously stated burden associated with this collection.