CMS will expand the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, officials announced January 8, 2021. Currently implemented in nine states, the model has saved Medicare an average of $141 million annually, with an average improvement in quality scores of 4/6%, according to a news release.
The HHVBP Model adjusts payments to agencies based on quality performance measures relative to other agencies in their state, CMS noted.
The extent of the expansion was not clear, but it would not be implemented until at least January 1, 2022. The states currently under HHVBP are those operating in Arizona, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nebraska, North Carolina, Tennessee and Washington.