On September 18, 2014, Congress passed the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (the IMPACT Act). The Act requires the submission of standardized data by Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), Home Health Agencies (HHAs) and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs). The IMPACT Act establishes a quality reporting program (QRP) for SNFs.
The IMPACT Act of 2014 requires the Secretary to implement specified clinical assessment domains using standardized (uniform) data elements to be nested within the assessment instruments currently required for submission by LTCH, IRF, SNF, and HHA providers. The Act further requires that CMS develop and implement quality measures from five quality measure domains using standardized assessment data. In addition, the Act requires the development and reporting of measures pertaining to resource use, hospitalization, and discharge to the community. Through the use of standardized quality measures and standardized data, the intent of the Act, among other obligations, is to enable interoperability and access to longitudinal information for such providers to facilitate coordinated care, improved outcomes, and overall quality comparisons.
Beginning fiscal year (FY) 2018 and each subsequent rate year, the Secretary shall reduce payment rates during such FY by 2 percentage points for any SNF that does not comply with data submission requirements for such a FY.
Each fiscal year (FY), you must report data to meet Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF QRP) requirements. You must submit your data no later than 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time by the deadlines we have listed below. The Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 must be transmitted to CMS through the Assessment Submission and Processing (ASAP) system to the Quality Improvement Evaluation System (QIES).
CMS strongly encourages all facilities to submit their data on time, in a manner that will allow time to address any submission issues and to provide opportunity to review submissions to ensure data is complete. Providers must submit all data necessary to calculate SNF QRP measures on at least 80% of the MDS assessments submitted to be in compliance with FY 2018 SNF QRP requirements.
Please also visit the CMS Post-Acute Care Quality Initiative website for more information related to cross setting quality measures and quality initiatives.
For the latest SNF quality reporting and IMPACT Act program information including but not limited to training, stakeholder engagement opportunities, and general updates about reporting requirements, quality measures, and reporting deadlines, please subscribe to the PAC QRP listserv.
A Quick Reference Guide for the SNF QRP is now available on the SNF Quality Reporting Program Data Submission Deadlines webpage. The guide includes frequently asked questions, information on QRP help desks, and helpful links to additional resources for the SNF QRP. There is also a schedule of Data Submission Deadlines under the download section.
