| Expanded HHVBP Model: Final July 2026 Interim Performance Reports (IPRs) are Available in iQIES
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| 08/18/2026
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To: HHA Providers, CMS Staff
Expanded HHVBP Model: Final July 2026 Interim Performance Reports (IPRs) are Available in iQIES
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Final July 2026 Interim Performance Reports (IPRs) are Available in iQIES
The Final July 2026 IPRs for the expanded HHVBP Model have been published in the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES).
The quarterly IPRs provide home health agencies (HHAs) with the cohort assignment, performance year measure data based on measure-specific 12-month and 24-month reporting periods, and the interim Total Performance Score (TPS). Using the IPRs, an HHA can assess and track their performance relative to peers in their respective cohort throughout the expanded Model performance year.
An HHA receives a July 2026 IPR if the HHA:
- Was Medicare certified prior to January 1, 2025, and
- Meets the minimum threshold of data for at least one (1) quality measure in the quarterly reporting period for the performance year shown in Exhibit 1.
Exhibit 1: July 2026 IPR quality measure performance time periods by measure category
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Measure Category
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Time Period
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Minimum Data Threshold
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OASIS-based
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Apr 1, 2025 – Mar 31, 2026
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20 home health quality episodes
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Claims-based
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DTC-PAC: Jan 1, 2024 – Dec 31, 2025
PPH: Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025
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20 home health stays
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HHCAHPS Survey-based*
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Jan 1, 2025 – Dec 31, 2025
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40 completed surveys
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*Not included in the TPS calculation for HHAs in the smaller-volume cohort. For additional details on cohort assignment in the expanded Model, please review Section 2 in the Expanded HHVBP Model Guide, available on the Expanded HHVBP Model webpage, under “FAQs & Model Guide.”
Please also refer to the updated Expanded HHVBP Model IPR Quick Reference Guide (PDF) available on the Expanded HHVBP Model webpage. This resource outlines the types of data included, eligibility criteria, how interim performance scores are calculated, and the process for submitting recalculation requests. This easy-to-scan two-pager provides all the key details to stay aligned with HHVBP performance expectations.
As outlined in the CY 2026 Home Health (HH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule, there are changes to the expanded HHVBP Model measure set starting with CY 2026 (referred to as the “CY 2026 measure set”). The October 2026 IPRs will be the first IPRs to generate improvement, achievement, and care points based on the CY 2026 applicable measure set. To help HHAs get ready for this change, CMS has started providing a preview of HHAs’ performance on the CY 2026 measure set. Specifically, starting with the October 2025 IPRs, achievement thresholds (AT) and benchmarks (BM) (see “CY 2026 AT and BM” tab) and HHA’s improvement thresholds for the CY 2026 measure set are available to HHAs in each IPR. In the July 2026 IPRs, a preview of CY 2026 applicable measure performance based on the current performance period is provided in the “CY 2026 Performance” tab.
Important Note on the Preview MSPB-PAC measure performance:
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“CY 2026 Baseline” tab: Due to a delay in availability of data to calculate CY 2024/2025 MSPB-PAC measure performance, improvement thresholds based on this performance period are not yet assigned to HHAs that were previously ineligible or did not meet the minimum data threshold to establish a CY 2022/2023 or CY 2023/2024 HHA baseline year for this measure. Assignment of improvement thresholds based on CY 2024/2025 MSPB-PAC measure performance will occur as soon as technically feasible.
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“CY 2026 Performance” tab: This worksheet provides performance scores for three OASIS-based measures in the CY 2026 applicable measure set that are not included in the CY 2025 applicable measure set, namely Improvement in Bathing, Improvement in Upper Body Dressing, and Improvement in Lower Body Dressing. Note that CY 2024/2025 data to calculate performance scores for the claims-based MSPB-PAC measure are not yet available. Therefore, performance scores for this measure are not reported on this tab.
CMS is sharing these updates to help HHAs stay informed and prepared, and no action is needed from HHAs. Updated measure performance will be reflected in future reports once the data become available.
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Accessing IPRs
IPRs are available via iQIES in the “HHA Provider Preview Reports” folder, by the CMS Certification number (CCN) assigned to the HHA. If your organization has more than one (1) CCN, then a report will be available for each CCN. Only iQIES users authorized to view an HHA’s reports can access expanded HHVBP Model reports. IPRs are not available to the public. For assistance with downloading your HHA’s IPR, please contact the iQIES Service Center at 1-800-339-9313, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM-8:00 PM ET, or by email (iqies@cms.hhs.gov). To create a ticket online or track an existing ticket, please go to CCSQ Support Central.
- Log into iQIES at https://iqies.cms.gov/.
- Select the My Reports option from the Reports menu.
- From the My Reports page, select the HHA Provider Preview Reports folder.The folders and reports on the My Reports page are listed in alphabetical order. Thus, users may need to utilize the “page forward” functionality at the bottom of the webpage to advance to the page where the HHA Provider Preview Reports folder is located. Alternatively, users may change the default number of rows that display on the webpage from 10 to a larger number to view the larger list of folders. Note: Files in the HHA Provider Preview Reports folder are listed in descending order (i.e., in the order of the newest reports to the oldest).
- Select the HHVBP report file, and the contents of the file will display.
Instructions on how to access the IPRs are also available on the Expanded HHVBP Model webpage, under “Model Reports.”
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Contact Us
Please do not reply to this email – this is an unmonitored inbox. If you require assistance, use the following options:
- For program questions about the expanded HHVBP Model, contact the HHVBP Model Help Desk at HHVBPquestions@cms.hhs.gov.
- For support with registration for the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES), please contact our QIES/iQIES Service Center by phone at (800) 339-9313 or by email at iqies@cms.hhs.gov. You may also refer to the iQIES Onboarding Guide posted to QTSO for registration support: https://qtso.cms.gov/software/iqies/reference-manuals.
- To receive email updates about the expanded Model, please subscribe to the Expanded HHVBP Model listserv. Enter your email address in the contact form, then select “Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Expanded Model” from the Innovations list.
- Please contact the Home Health Quality Reporting Program (HH QRP) Help Desk at homehealthqualityquestions@cms.hhs.gov for questions about the following: Home Health Quality, including Care Compare (excluding HHCAHPS), OASIS coding and OASIS documentation, quality reporting requirements & deadlines, data reported in quality reports, measure calculations, Quality of Patient Care Star Rating (excluding suppression requests), public reporting, risk adjustment, and Quality Assessment Only (QAO)/Pay for Reporting (P4P).
- Please contact the Home Health CAHPS Help Desk at hhcahps@rti.org for questions related to the HHCAHPS Survey or Patient Survey Star Ratings.
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Important Links:
Expanded HHVBP Model webpage | Expanded HHVBP Model YouTube playlist
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| PY 2027 ESRD QIP Preview Period Closes in Two Days
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| 08/18/2026
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PY 2027 ESRD QIP Preview Period Closes in Two Days
August 18, 2026
The Payment Year (PY) 2027 End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program (ESRD QIP) Preview Period closes on Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 11:59 p.m., Pacific Time. Facility Viewers and Facility and Corporate Points of Contact (POCs) should review their facility’s preview Performance Score Report (PSR) through the ESRD QIP user interface (UI) in the ESRD Quality Reporting System (EQRS) prior to the end of the Preview Period. Additionally, POCs should submit inquiries regarding their facility’s PY 2027 preview scores and reports before the Preview Period concludes.
If the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requests additional information for unresolved inquiries, POCs should promptly respond to CMS via the ESRD QIP UI in EQRS. POCs must check on the status of their inquiries via the ESRD QIP UI until the inquiries are flagged as “Closed.” POCs may receive responses to their inquiries after the Preview Period ends.
To learn more about the ESRD QIP and the PY 2027 Preview Period, please visit the ESRD QIP section of QualityNet.org. For more information on using EQRS, including user role, how to access your report, and how to submit questions, please refer to the July 16, 2026, Preview Period Webinar materials.
For assistance with EQRS technical issues, please contact the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality (CCSQ) Service Center. The CCSQ Service Center is open Monday-Friday 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern Time and can be reached via phone at 866-288-8912, email at qnetsupport-esrd@cms.hhs.gov or online at the CCSQ Support Center. Resources related to EQRS, ESRD QIP, transplant centers, and new EQRS users are available on the Resources page at EQRS.CMS.gov.
For assistance with general EQRS and ESRD QIP questions, please contact the ESRD QIP Team via the QualityNet Q&A Tool.
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| Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent this update. To contact Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go to our contact us page. |
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| NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE: IRF QRP Essentials Training
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| 08/18/2026
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Post-Acute Care Quality Programs
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NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE: IRF QRP Essentials Training
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a web-based training that provides an overview of the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP). The course covers reporting requirements, data sources, submission timelines, quality measures, iQIES, public reporting, compliance, and key CMS resources and Help Desk support.
This training can be accessed through the IRF QRP Training webpage.
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Center for Clinical Standards and Quality |
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