Beginning in April 2011, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will make available free hospital-specific comparative data reports for critical access hospitals (CAHs) nationwide. The Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) provides hospital-specific data statistics for Medicare discharges at risk for improper payments. Hospitals can use the data to support internal auditing and monitoring activities. PEPPER is the only free report comparing a CAH's Medicare billing practices with other CAHs by state, Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) or Fiscal Intermediary (FI) jurisdiction and the nation. CMS has contracted with TMF Health Quality Institute to develop and distribute the reports.
PEPPER will be distributed electronically to CAH QualityNet Administrators and those who have basic user accounts with the PEPPER Recipient role on or about Monday, April 25, via a My QualityNet secure file exchange. In preparation for receiving and downloading PEPPER from My QualityNet, these individuals should verify that their computer systems are equipped with the software and configuration required to use My QualityNet by following the steps at www.qualitynet.org<http://www.qualitynet.org> (see "Getting Started With QualityNet" and "Test Your System.") Additional information about downloading PEPPER from My QualityNet can be found at http://www.pepperresources.org/PEPPER/DownloadingPEPPER.aspx (includes System Setup and Test Guide, Troubleshooting Tips and a guide for Configuration Changes for Compatibility with QualityNet). CAHs may work with their Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) to obtain a QualityNet administrator account by visiting www.qualitynet.org<http://www.qualitynet.org> and clicking on the Hospitals - Inpatient link. Obtaining a My QualityNet account may take several weeks; CAHs should plan accordingly. TMF will conduct a web-based training session for CAH staff providing information on PEPPER and how to use it on Thursday, April 28, at 1 p.m. central time. To register for the training, CAH staff should visit https://tmfevents.webex.com. The training will be recorded and posted on http://www.pepperresources.org. For more information, including the PEPPER distribution schedule, a sample PEPPER for CAHs and information about QualityNet accounts, visit the PEPPER website<http://www.pepperresources.org/>. CAH staff are encouraged to join the e-mail list on this website to receive important notifications about upcoming PEPPER distribution and training opportunities. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
