Home Health & Hospice Week

New in an IQIES folder near you.

“The Final October 2023 IPRs are now available on iQIES, in the ‘HHA Provider Preview Reports’ folder, by the CMS Certification Number (CCN) assigned to the HHA,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in a new message to home health agencies. “The Final IPR reflects any changes resulting from an approved recalculation request,” CMS confirms.

Only iQIES users authorized to view an HHA’s reports can access the expanded VBP Model reports, CMS adds. If a provider has more than one CCN, a report will be available for each number.

Remember: For the calendar year 2023 performance year, only active HHAs that were Medicare-certified prior to Jan. 1, 2022, and have sufficient data for at least one quality measure, will receive an IPR, CMS reiterates in the message.

And don’t worry, “IPRs are only available to HHAs through iQIES,” CMS adds. “IPRs are not available to the public,” it stresses.

For agencies that haven’t accessed their IPRs yet, now is a good time to do so. In recent Open Door Forums, CMS officials seemed dismayed that many agencies hadn’t looked at their reports. CMS has issued two IPRs so far.

Why it matters: HHAs’ VBP scores in 2023 will affect their payments in 2025, to the tune of up to 5 percent positive or negative. IPRs give agencies an idea of how they are competing and where they need to improve.

Resource: CMS’s two-page quick reference guide on the reports is at www.cms.gov/priorities/innovation/media/document/hhvbp-exp-ipr-quick-ref-guide.

Gain New ‘Perspective’ on QAPI, Organization Structure, And More

Meanwhile, agencies looking to better their performance can consult two new quality improvement resources from the HHVBP Model Technical Assistance (TA) Team.