How to Update Home Health Demographic Data

Quality data on Care Compare is updated quarterly. The data displayed on Care Compare includes demographic information, such as an address, telephone number, and ownership.

Below are the steps to guide providers on how to verify and update home health demographic data.

Step 1: Verify Demographic Data is Accurate

Home health providers need to review their Home Health and Quality of Patient Care Star Rating and Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Provider Preview Reports to verify that the demographic data is accurate. The Preview Reports reflect the quality measure data and home health demographic information that will be posted to Care Compare in the following quarter. The Preview Reports are available in the 'My Results' folder in Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) during the 30- day preview windows prior to each quarterly Care Compare refresh.

However, due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) Public Health Emergency (PHE) HH QRP, data submission requirements for the Q4 2019, Q1 2020, and Q2 2010 quarters were subject to an exception. The missing data for Q1 2020 and Q2 2020 will impact what is displayed on Care Compare; therefore, public reporting of home health agencies' data will freeze after the October 2020 refresh. This means that following the October 2020 refresh, the data publicly reported will be held constant for all refreshes in 2021, including October 2021. Further, no Provider Preview Reports will be issued for those refreshes that continue to display the constant or frozen data. For additional information on COVID-19 PHE data exemption, please see the Home Health COVID-19 Public Reporting Tip Sheet in the Downloads section of the Home Health QRP Training webpage.

Step 2: If Demographic Data is Inaccurate

CMS will be transitioning to a new data source for a provider's demographic data for all five Post-Acute Care (PAC) provider types (Skilled Nursing Facilities / Nursing Facilities (SNF/NFs), Home Health Agencies (HHAs), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs), Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) and Hospices). These demographic data include such items as the provider name, provider-mailing address, provider physical address, State, ZIP Code, etc. These provider demographic data are displayed on the Provider and Quality Measure reports generated from the Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES) Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER) Reporting application for SNF/NF and Hospice providers and reports generated from Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) for HHA, IRF, and LTCH providers. Additionally, these same demographic data are displayed on the public reporting websites such as the Provider Data Catalog (PDC).

Historically provider demographic data have been maintained in the Automated Survey Processing Environment or ASPEN software; however, CMS will be transitioning to use the demographic information from Provider Enrollment, Chain and Ownership System (PECOS). While this transition is underway, a final date when all demographic data will be obtained from PECOS has not been identified.  During this transition, all PAC providers will be responsible to ensure their latest demographic data are updated and available in both ASPEN (SNF/NFs, IRFs, LTCHs, and Hospices) or iQIES (HHAs) and PECOS systems.

A referencing document that outlines the steps each PAC provider should follow can be accessed in the Downloads section. Should you have questions regarding this updated process, please contact the iQIES help desk by email at or by phone at (800) 339-9313.

Note- Updates to the home health provider demographic information do not happen in real-time and can take up to 6-months to appear on Care Compare.

Downloads