◆ CMS has awarded the contract for reviews of short hospital stays and higher-weighted DRGs, but it’s on hold for now. CMS “continues to temporarily pause the performance of both Short Stay reviews and Higher Weighted Diagnosis-Related Group (HWDRG) reviews by the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organizations (BFCC-QIOs),” a spokesperson told RMC. “A bid protest was received in response to the recent contract award for this work. CMS anticipates that the BFCC-QIO claims review operations will resume after the protest is resolved.” Information on the bid protest is available on the Government Accountability Office website.[1]