October 1, 2012, as we noted in last week’s Alert, is the deadline for ambulatory surgical centers to begin reporting quality measures to CMS or face payment penalties.  October 1st is also a momentous date for hospitals, with the start of the Medicare Hospital Inpatient Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program.Value-Based Purchasing for HospitalsThe VBP Program is scheduled to launch a week from now, as required by the Affordable Care Act. This program marks the beginning of an historic change in how Medicare pays health care providers and facilities—for the first time, hospitals across the country will be paid for inpatient acute care services based on care quality, not on the quantity of the services they provide.In fiscal year 2013, which starts on October 1st, the VBP Program will pay out an estimated $850 million to more than 3,500 participating hospitals based on their overall performance on a set of twenty quality measures....