On September 19, 2024, CMS announced a second preview period for the October 2024 SNF Preview Reports (“Preview Reports”) following the identification of a technical glitch that prevented the posting of these reports for Swing Bed providers. The corrected reports are now available for all Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) providers, allowing them to review their performance data until September 23, 2024. CMS recommend that providers utilize the second preview period to ensure their quality measure scores are accurate before they are publicly reported on Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the October 2024 refresh.
The updated Preview Reports include significant changes, featuring a new assessment-based measure: the Discharge Function Score. In contrast, three previously included measures have been removed: (1) the Application of Percent of Long-Term Care Hospital Patients with Functional Assessments and Care Plans, (2) the SNF Functional Outcome Measure assessing Change in Self-Care Score for Residents, and (3) the SNF Functional Outcome Measure for Change in Mobility Score. Historical data for the removed measures will still be available on the nursing homes archive webpage.
The data within the Preview Reports is derived from quality assessment submissions made by SNFs from Quarter 1 2023 through Quarter 4 2023. Additionally, measures reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) reflect data for Influenza Vaccination Coverage among healthcare personnel from Quarter 4 2023 through Quarter 1 2024, and COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage from Quarter 4 2023. Claims-based measures have been updated for the October 2024 refresh, displaying data from Quarter 4 2021 to Quarter 3 2023, while the SNF Healthcare-Associated Infections (“HAI”) measure uses data from Quarter 4 2022 to Quarter 3 2023.
Providers are encouraged to thoroughly review their performance data before the September 23 deadline, as only updates or corrections to the underlying assessment data submitted before the final data submission deadline will be reflected in the publicly reported data. Updates submitted after this deadline will only appear in the Facility-Level Quality Measure (“QM”) report and Patient-Level QM report, not in the Preview Reports or on the Care Compare website. Providers who believe their quality measure scores are inaccurate can request a review from CMS during the preview period.
CMS has directed providers to reach out to the iQIES Service Center by email at iqies@cms.hhs.gov or by phone at 1-800-339-9313 to learn how to access their facility’s provider preview report, or via email at SNFQRPPRQuestions@cms.hhs.gov for any questions about SNF Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Public Reporting.
