The APC outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) is a reimbursement method that categorizes outpatient visits into groups according to the clinical characteristics, the typical resource use, and the costs associated with the diagnoses and the procedures performed. The groups are called Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs). The department uses a modified version of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Prospective Payment System for Hospital Outpatient Department Services to pay some hospitals for covered outpatient services provided to injured workers. The department will utilize CMS' current outpatient code editor to categorize outpatient visits.

The payment system methodology uses CMS' outpatient prospective payment system's relative weight factor for each APC group and a blend of statewide and hospital-specific rates for each APC.

For a complete description of CMS' Prospective Payment System for Hospital Outpatient Department Services see 42 C.F.R., Chapter IV, Part 419, et al.