Ambulatory Payment Classifications (APCs) are used for which type of hospital services?

• A. Inpatient hospital services
• B. Outpatient hospital services
• C. Physician office visits
• D. Home health visits

Answer: (B)

Ambulatory Payment Classifications are used in the outpatient prospective payment system to group hospital outpatient services into categories that reflect similar clinical characteristics and resource use. This allows a single payment rate per outpatient encounter, rather than paying for each service separately. Inpatient services are paid under diagnosis-related groups, physician office visits are paid through the physician fee schedule, and home health visits have their own Home Health Prospective Payment System. So APCs specifically apply to outpatient hospital services.