PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting (PCHQR) Program

Overview

The Prospective Payment System (PPS)-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting (PCHQR) Program was developed as mandated by Section 3005 of the Affordable Care Act (Public Law 111-148).

The PCHQR program is intended to equip consumers with quality-of-care information to make more informed decisions about healthcare options. It is also intended to encourage hospitals and clinicians to improve the quality of inpatient care provided to Medicare beneficiaries by ensuring that providers are aware of and reporting on best practices for their respective facilities and type of care.

To meet the PCHQR Program requirements, PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospitals (PCHs) are required to submit all quality measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), beginning with the Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 payment determination year. Participating facilities must comply with the program requirements set forth, including public reporting of the measure rates.

PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting (PCHQR) Program Eligibility

Eligible hospitals are described in section 1886(d)(1)(B)(v) and referred to as a Prospective Payment System (PPS)-Exempt Cancer Hospitals, or PCHs. These hospitals are excluded from payment under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has designated 11 hospitals as PPS-Exempt Cancer Hospitals, or Medicare PPS-Excluded Cancer Hospitals.

Final Rules for Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems

Information regarding the PCHQR Program can be found in the following Inpatient Prospective Payment System and Long-Term Care Hospitals Prospective Payment System (IPPS/LTCH) Final Rule (FR) publications. (Previous Year Rules)

• FY 2026 IPPS/LTCH PPS Final Rule (pages 37027-37032) CMS hereby finalized the removal of three measures: Hospital Commitment to Health Equity, Screening for Social Drivers of Health, and Screen Positive Rate for Social Drivers of Health. Finalized an update and codification of the ECE policy. Finalized modification to the public reporting requirements to allow for public reporting PCHQR Program data on the Compare tool in aditioin to current publication on the Provider Data Catalog.
• FY 2025 IPPS/LTCH PPS Final Rule (pages 69455-69488, 69489-69507, 69577-69580) CMS hereby finalized the adoption of the Patient Safety Structural Measure. Finalized modification of the HCAHPS Survey measure. Finalized new start date for public display of the Hospital Commitment to Health Equity measure.

Refer to the Federal Register for other official Medicare Final Rule publications.