Welcome to PEPPER Resources

PEPPERresources.org is the official site for information, training and support related to the Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER).

PEPPER provides hospital-specific data statistics for Medicare severity diagnosis-related groups (MS-DRGs) and discharges at high risk for payment errors. PEPPER can support a hospital’s compliance efforts by identifying where the hospital is an outlier for the risk areas. This data can assist the hospital in identifying both potential overpayments as well as potential underpayments.

This Web site is developed and maintained by TMF Health Quality Institute, under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide comparative data reports to hospitals and to Medicare Administrative Contractors/Fiscal Intermediaries in support of efforts to reduce Medicare fee-for-service improper payments. 

Hospitals To Continue Receiving PEPPER Data

Hospitals will continue to receive the Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER), an electronic report containing hospital-specific data statistics for Medicare severity diagnosis-related groups (MS-DRGs) and discharges at high risk for payment errors. PEPPER was previously distributed to hospitals by their state Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) in support of the Hospital Payment Monitoring Program. PEPPER will be produced and distributed to hospitals by TMF Health Quality Institute under contract with CMS; QIOs are no longer be involved in providing these reports.

How will PEPPER be distributed?

Short-term and long-term acute care inpatient prospective payment system hospitals that have My QualityNet accounts will receive PEPPERs via a My QualityNet secure file exchange on or about January 25, March 24, May 24, August 24 and October 25, 2010. My QualityNet is a secure site accessible from the www.qualitynet.org Web site. My QualityNet is the only CMS-approved method for secure electronic communications and healthcare quality data exchange between data vendors and hospitals. The PEPPER files will be sent to the hospital’s QualityNet Administrators and to My QualityNet user accounts with the PEPPER recipient role. Important information about types of My QualityNet accounts is provided below. Long-term acute care hospitals that do not have My QualityNet accounts may request their PEPPER by submitting a request to the Help Desk.

QualityNet Administrator Accounts

The QualityNet Security Administrator:

• Creates, approves, edits and/or terminates My QualityNet user accounts (except Security Administrator) within the organization
• Monitors My QualityNet usage at your organization to maintain proper security and confidentiality measures
• Serves as the point of contact at the organization for information regarding My QualityNet

Short-term acute care hospital My QualityNet security administrator accounts are a requirement of the Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update (RHQDAPU) initiative. These accounts will be used for PEPPER distribution.

My QualityNet Basic User Accounts

All other registered My QualityNet users in an organization are considered basic users. The QualityNet Security Administrator for the organization can assign the User Roles of “File Exchange and Search” and “PEPPER Recipient” to a basic user account. Basic users with the “File Exchange and Search” and “PEPPER Recipient” roles will receive a PEPPER file when they are distributed to the QualityNet Administrators.

To register as a My QualityNet basic user:

1. Notify the QualityNet Security Administrator for your organization that you need to become a registered My QualityNet user. (This is usually the person who is involved in the reporting of your hospital’s quality data.)
2. Provide the required registration information to your QualityNet Security Administrator or designated staff, who will complete an online registration form for you (from the pages of My QualityNet) and print a copy for notarization.
3. Sign and date the printed copy of your registration form in the presence of a Notary Public, obtaining the Notary's signature and seal on the form. NOTE: Although some states do not require such, My QualityNet does require either the notary seal or stamp on the registration form for approval.
4. Mail the original notarized registration form (keeping a copy for your records) to the My QualityNet Help Desk at this address:
   
   My QualityNet Help Desk
   1401 50th Street, Suite 200
   West Des Moines, IA 50266-8239

The My QualityNet Help Desk will process the registration form. You will be notified by e-mail when your registration is complete and you can sign in to My QualityNet. The e-mail will also contain your Log-In ID.

To sign in to My QualityNet for the first time, use the temporary password provided by the QualityNet Security Administrator at your organization who created your account. (Contact your Security Administrator if you have not received a temporary password.) 

PEPPER Distribution

TMF will distribute PEPPER files to hospitals using the My QualityNet Secure File Exchange (see the Send / Receive link under Exchange Files on the My QualityNet page). The Secure File Exchange page includes links for File Exchange Help and File Exchange Notification Preferences.

To receive automatic e-mail notification of PEPPER distribution, QualityNet Administrators and basic users must set their notification preference under the My QualityNet, Exchange Files task. Set the Notification Frequency to something other than “Never”.

View frequently asked questions about QualityNet or downloading issues, or use the Help/Contact Us form on this site to submit My QualityNet account questions to TMF.

Long-term acute care hospitals that do not have My QualityNet accounts may request their PEPPER by submitting a request to the Help Desk.