If you missed the latest VBP webinar, it’s now available to review. As home health agencies and Medicare officials tangle over whether to move the VBP baseline, the program continues to roll ahead. For example: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has posted the recording and transcript of its Aug. 25 Home Health Value-Based Purchasing educational session, “Navigating Performance Feedback Reports: Interim Performance Report (IPR) and Annual Performance Report (APR).” The event “introduced the two types of expanded HHVBP Model performance feedback reports: IPRs and APRs,” CMS explains in a notice. “A review of the purpose, availability, timing, and location of the reports was provided, followed by a walkthrough of the layout, navigation, and content on each tab.”
Why it matters: “Understanding important details for each report type and navigating the reports are essential skills for an HHA to accurately and efficiently track, trend, and identify report information to interpret their total performance score and potential payment adjustments, and inform quality assurance and performance improvement (QAPI) initiatives,” CMS tells providers. “The HHVBP [Technical Assistance] Team encourages HHAs to view these on-demand resources and share with other HHA staff seeking to engage in the expanded HHVBP Model,” it adds. HHAs should also keep in mind that the clock is ticking down to the model’s first performance year, CMS says in the newly released August HHVBP Model Newsletter. “The CY 2022 pre-implementation year for the expanded HHVBP Model concludes December 31, 2022,” CMS emphasizes in the newsletter. Do this: “HHAs can leverage the remaining months of the pre-implementation year to prepare for the CY 2023 performance year,” the newsletter advises. “CMS designated this pre-implementation year to allow HHAs time to learn about the expanded HHVBP Model without risk to payments,” it adds. Note: Links to the recording and transcript are under the “Model Reports” section at https://innovation.cms.gov/innovation-models/expanded-home-health-value-based-purchasing-model. The August newsletter is under the “Newsletters” section on that page.