The Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) was paused in late 2023, but the important CMS tool that helps agencies identify billing anomalies is almost ready to return.
 
In the past, PEPPERs provided agency-level data on areas often associated with improper payments. For example, average number of episodes, outlier payments and percent of patients with high functional impairment.
 
These reports can help providers narrow internal auditing and compliance practices by highlighting those targeted areas where the agency might be outside of the national average.
 
The home page at https://pepper.cbrpepper.org/ is up and running for the first time in nearly two years, while other resources on the site, including training and an FAQ are still “under construction.”
 
Once the site is live, these reports may look different — CMS sought feedback on updating PEPPERs during the break.