New and Updated Resources Available for the Expanded HHVBP Model
Several new and updated resources are available on the Expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model webpage.
New Resources:
Updated Resources:
Performance Year Results:
CMS has also posted results from the second performance year of the expanded HHVBP Model (CY 2024) in the Provider Data Catalog (PDC)
Home health agencies have several recently released reports/materials/Information that require timely review and attention. Below are highlights of some of the updates:
The January refresh of the Home Health Quality Reporting Program materials has been released
Preview reports dated January 6 are now available for the upcoming April refresh
The COVID-19 vaccination question and measure will remain in the January refresh but will no longer appear in April. This question will also be completely removed from OASIS with the OASIS-E2 update in April
In December, the OASIS-E2 final data set and updated guidance manual were released. Be sure this update is available to your staff, and that education has begun, if it has not already, on the changes to OASIS-E2 that will take effect on April 1, 2026
The Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Interim Reports were released in October. It is important to review these reports and understand your current performance
Note that many measures included in the 2025 data set will continue in the Value-Based Purchasing Model in 2026
When reviewing your 2025 annual Value-Based Purchasing report, based on 2024 data, you will see that the Total Normalized Composite Change Measure data were still reported. This includes the three 1800-series items being added back into Value-Based Purchasing in 2026. Those items were bathing, dressing the upper body, and dressing the lower body. Because these items were previously included in the composite change measure, the report still reflects the percentage of patients showing improvement in each area. This provides additional data to help you identify specific focus areas as you prepare for 2026
The rulemaking process for home health in 2026, initially raised in the Proposed Rule and addressed again in the Final Rule, there was a request for information that focuses on publicly reported measures and the current four and a half month window agencies have to make corrections or submit updates after the data submission period ends and before reports are finalized. The question being posed is whether this timeframe should be shortened from four and a half months to 45 days. While 45 days may be overly aggressive and four and a half months may be excessive, your input is needed. CMS is still collecting feedback to inform potential future changes, so agencies are encouraged to submit their perspectives
