Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP)

Overview

What is the IRF QRP?

The IRF QRP creates IRF quality reporting requirements, as mandated by Section 3004(b) of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010. Every year, by October 1, we publish the quality measures IRFs must report.

Learn more about Section 3004 of the ACA (Quality Reporting for Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCH), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRF), and Hospice Programs) by visiting P.L. Public Law No: 111-148 (H.R. 3590 Health Care Law).

The Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014 added Section 1899B to the Social Security Act (SSA), which requires the reporting of standardized patient assessment data about quality measures and standardized patient assessment data elements. The Act requires the submission of data pertaining to quality measures, resource use, and other domains. In addition, the IMPACT Act requires assessment data to be standardized and interoperable to allow for the exchange of data among post-acute providers and other providers. The IMPACT Act intends for standardized post-acute care data to improve Medicare beneficiary outcomes through shared decision-making, care coordination, and enhanced discharge planning.

Learn more about the IMPACT Act at:

• Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act Of 2014
• IMPACT Act of 2014 Data Standardization & Cross Setting Measures webpage

What happens if quality data isn’t reported?

For Fiscal Year (FY) 2014, and each year after, if an IRF does not submit the required quality data, the IRF will be subject to a two percentage (2%) point reduction in its Annual Increase Factor for the applicable performance year.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) strongly encourages submitting quality data prior to the deadline to ensure the data are complete and accurate and to allow IRF providers an opportunity to address any data submission issues.

Who can see the reported data?

CMS must make quality data available to the public through the Care Compare website. To ensure accuracy of this publicly reported data, CMS gives IRFs the opportunity to review the data before they are posted. The Care Compare website began reporting quality measure data in late 2016.

Please see the IRF Quality Reporting Help webpage for further assistance and contact information.

IRF Quality Reporting Program Archives