New Technology Add-On Payments (NTAP) are a class of reimbursement that are meant to help pay for new technology that is not included in the DRG bundled payment. Specifically, NTAP recognizes that current DRG payment rates can be a barrier to adopting new technology and represents an additional payment for hospital stays that use new technology determined by CMS to provide substantial clinical improvement and where the current DRG payment would be inadequate.

The Southeast Regional Stroke Center at Erlanger, based out of the University of Tennessee’s Erlanger Medical Center in Chattanooga, receives referrals from more than 40 hospitals and treats more than 2,500 strokes each year. Patients are rushed to their internationally-recognized center, more commonly referred to as the Erlanger Stroke Network, both day and night, some arriving by ambulance and others by helicopter.