Managing Home Health Margins Through Clinical Quality: Expanded HHBVP

Description

This is a State-Share Educational Program. OCHCH has partnered with Home Care Association of Florida to offer this education to OCHCH members.

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Background

This progressive webinar series walks you through all the contemporary Home Health changes in the 2026 Final Rule, discusses rationale for the changes, outlines Operational changes to make for PDGM/VBP success, and presents Case Study demos of HH providers who are on the path to ongoing HH success with improved financial margins.

Home Health reforms continue with major programming and reimbursement changes outlined in the Calendar Year (CY) 2026 Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule. Providers seeking success will face new challenges related to the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) survey and the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model, with significant reimbursement cuts occurring simultaneously. The result is a Home Health landscape considerably different from what most of us operated under during the PPS and early Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) era.

3-Part Webinar Schedule. 

• February 18: Expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model
• March 18: Payment Changes: What to Expect for Medicare Home Health Payments in 2026
• April 15: What Does This Mean for Revenue Cycle Management (RCM) and Agencies?

Contact Hours for Attendees

• This online program offers 1 Contact Hour for Nurses

Session Summary

Changes to the Applicable Measure Set

Beginning April 2026, CMS is proposing changes to the HHCAHPS survey. These changes affect the survey questions used to calculate three measures that are currently used in the expanded HHVBP Model. Due to the proposed changes to the HHCAHPS survey, CMS is proposing to remove these measures:

• Care of patients,
• Communications between providers and patients, and
• Specific care issues.

CMS is also proposing the addition of four measures to the applicable measure set. This includes three OASIS-based measures related to bathing and dressing, and one claims-based measure, the Medicare Spending per Beneficiary for the Post-Acute Care (PAC) setting measure.

Due to the changes to the Model’s applicable measure set, CMS is proposing to alter the current weights of individual measures and measure categories.

Additionally, CMS is proposing to add and codify an additional measure removal factor at § 484.358, Factor 9: It is not feasible to implement the measure specifications.

HHVBP Quality Measure Concepts Under Consideration for Future Years – Request for Information (RFI)

CMS is including in the proposed rule an RFI that would build on input from the expanded HHVBP Model’s Implementation and Monitoring technical expert panel (TEP). We are specifically asking for feedback about the addition of a respecified Falls with Major Injury measure as well as two potential changes to the HHCAHPS survey-based measures scoring rules and applicable measure set as they relate to the expanded HHVBP Model.

Our Speakers

Arnie Cisneros is the President of Home Health Strategic Management (HHSM). He has over 30 years of experience as a physical therapist across the care continuum, and he serves as a Post-Acute Consultant for multiple Pioneer Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). He is renowned for his adaptation of traditional health care operations to address ongoing Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reforms.

Kimberly McCormick is a highly accomplished nurse consultant in home health. She is the Executive Clinical Director for Home Health Strategic Management. With 24 years of experience in home health, including nearly a decade as the administrator of a home health agency, Kimberly has the experience and knowledge to provide unrivaled insight into the home health arena. Kimberly previously served as an Associate Consultant with HHSM, where she has established herself as an expert in the utilization management of home health services.

Disclosure to Learners

Accreditation Statement: Ohio Council for Home Care & Hospice is accredited as a provider of nursing continuing professional development by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Relevant Financial Relationships: There are no relevant financial relationships with ineligible companies for those involved with the ability to control the content of this activity, or any relevant financial relationships disclosed by participants have been mitigated.

Criteria for Awarding Contact Hours & Continuing Education Certificates: Attendance for the duration of the educational activity. Contact hours are not awarded for watching a recording of the session.