Value Based Payment Quality Improvement Program (VBP QIP)

Update Webinar

  • Webinar also available in Portable Document Format (PDF)

February 15, 2017


Today´s Agenda


VBP QIP Program Updates


VBP QIP Financing

  • The April 2016 rate package was approved at the end of 2016.
    • Managed Care Organizations (MCOs) should have received the funds on December 28, 2016.
    • MCOs should distribute funds in accordance with their contracts.
  • The official recoupment of advances is currently taking place and may occur in multiple cycles
  • For any VBP QIP financing questions, please contact bmcr@health.ny.gov

VBP QIP MCO Governance Documents

  • Department of Health (DOH) will release the Group 2 MCOs´ Governance Documents by Thursday, February 23rd, 2017.
    • DOH will provide feedback to MCOs, which can be used to solidify their approach for overseeing VBP QIP.
  • Updates to the governance documents must be submitted by DOH by Friday, March 24th, 2017.
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VBP QIP Facility Plan Guidance Document Updates


P4P Measure Changes

  • DOH has removed VTE–1 from the menu because CMS removed the measure from the hospital IQR Program as of January 1, 2016.
# Measure Name Data Steward Focus Area/Domain
1 Acute MI Mortality (IQI #15) AHRQ Mortality
2 Stroke Mortality (IQI #17) AHRQ Mortality
3 Pneumonia Mortality (IQI #20) AHRQ Mortality
4 CAUTI Rate per 10,000 Patient Days (Population Rate) NHSN Hospital Acquired Conditions
5 CLABSI per 10,000 Patient Days (Population Rate) NHSN Hospital Acquired Conditions
6 CDI Healthcare Facility – Onset Incidence Rate per 10,000 Patient Days NHSN Hospital Acquired Conditions
7 Falls with Injury National Quality Forum Hospital Acquired Conditions
8 3–Hour Sepsis Bundle 4 NYSDOH Hospital Acquired Conditions
9 VTE–1 Venous Thromboembolism Prophylaxis Joint Commission Hospital Acquired Conditions
10 Prevalence Rate of Facility – Acquired Pressure Ulcers of Stage 2 or Higher per 100 Patients National Quality Forum Hospital Acquired Conditions
11 Episiotomy Rate Christiana Care Health System Maternity
12 Primary C–Section (IQI #33) AHRQ Maternity
13 Avoidable ED Use 3M Utilization
14 Avoidable Admissions 3M Utilization

           Measure removed

Acronyms: AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality), NHSN (National Healthcare Safety Network)


Pay for Performance (P4P) Measure Denominators

  • DOH worked with hospital and plan associations to conduct further analysis on denominators across facilities for the menu of measures.
  • The analysis did not reveal any significant issues that would prohibit facilities from meeting thresholds of 30 across a rolling annual calculation for most measures on the menu.
  • A denominator of 30 is required for a measure to be deemed valid in a reporting period.
  • For questions on VBP QIP quality measures, please email the SPARCS BML at sparcs.submissions@health.ny.gov with "VBP QIP Measures" in the title.

Invalid Denominators

  • If a Facility selects a measure where the denominator is less than 30 for a given reporting period, the measure´s performance cannot count as achieved for the reporting period.
    • If multiple denominators are invalid during the same reporting period, more of the valid measures will need to be achieved for a facility to earn full payment for the period. Performance for at least 4 measures will need to be achieved in a reporting period for the facility to earn full payment for that period.
    • If 3 or more measures have invalid denominators during a reporting period, the facility will earn up to the amount of achieved valid measures. Since less than 4 valid measures can be achieved, unearned P4P dollars will be available through the AIT.
  • A measure with a rolling annual denominator less than 30 during a quarterly reporting period will not be valid in the next quarterly reporting period either, because there will not be a valid rolling annual quarter to serve as a baseline.
    Please see example on next slide...

Invalid Denominators Example

Example of P4P Measures with Denominators Less Than 30
Quarterly Improvement Target Achievement
Annual Improvement Target Achievement

Annual Improvement Target Requirements

  • For Demonstration Year (DY) 4 and DY5, the following criteria must be met for a measure to be considered achieved in AIT:
    • The Annual Measurement Period result must be better than the Annual Baseline Period result (performance improves over the baseline); AND
    • The facility must achieve a result for the Annual Measurement Period that is better than the New York State (NYS) mean results for the specific measure as per the most recently published report by the specified data source (AHRQ, NHSN, National Quality Forum, etc.).

AIT Measures for Comparison

  • The mean data in the chart below is the most recent data available for illustrative purposes only.
  • The Office of Quality and Patient Safety (OQPS) will release the NYS mean results for DY4 in June 2017. Mean data will be pulled based on the most recent data available as of May 1, 2017.
# Measure Name Data Steward Focus Area/Domain Units Data Source Period Rate, Mean (30+ or More Disch) for Illustration Only*
1 Acute MI Mortality AHRQ Mortality Rate per 1000 Discharges NYSDOH (SPARCS) 2014 84.26046203
2 Stroke Mortality AHRQ Mortality Rate per 1000 Discharges NYSDOH (SPARCS) 2014 90.30177843
3 Pneumonia Mortality AHRQ Mortality Rate per 1000 Discharges NYSDOH (SPARCS) 2014 39.96730851
4 CAUTI Rate NHSN Hospital Acquired Conditions CAUTI Rate per 10,000 Patient Days CMS 2015 12.7655862
5 CLABSI Rate NHSN Hospital Acquired Conditions CLABSI Rate per 10,000 Patient Days CMS 2015 9.994533256
6 CDI Healthcare Facility Rate NHSN Hospital Acquired Conditions CDI Rate per 10,000 Patient Days CMS 2015 6.025167055
7 Falls with Injury National Quality Forum Hospital Acquired Conditions       TBD*
8 3–Hour Sepsis Bundle NYSDOH Hospital Acquired Conditions   NYSDOH   TBD**
9 Prevalence Rate of Facility – Acquired Pressure Ulcers of Stage 2 or Higher per 100 Patients National Quality Forum Hospital Acquired Conditions Stage III or IV pressure ulcers or unstageable (secondary diagnosis) per 1,000 discharges among surgical or medical patients ages 18 years and older NYSDOH (SPARCS), PSI #03 2014 0.739666475
10 Episiotomy Rate Christiana Care Health System Maternity Per 100 Vaginal Deliveries NYSDOH 2014 15.871
11 Primary C– Section (IQI #33) AHRQ Maternity Rate per 1000 Deliveries NYSDOH (SPARCS) 2014 189.0981354
12 Avoidable ED Use 3M Utilization Rate per 100 Discharges NYSDOH (SPARCS) 2014 72.2285794
13 Avoidable Admissions 3M Utilization rate per 100 Admissions NYSDOH (SPARCS) 2014 23.9662787

* This benchmark is currently unavailable and will be released in the future.


Alternate Measure AIT Requirements

  • If alternate measures are selected, the facility is responsible for the calculation.
  • The facility should use NYS specific data. If State specific data is unavailable, the national mean for the measure can be used.
    • In DY4, the facility should use the most recent published reports at May 1, 2017.
    • In DY5, the facility should use the most recent published reports at May 1, 2018.
  • The paired MCO is responsible for confirming the data sources used for alternate measures.
  • For questions on VBP QIP quality measures, please email the SPARCS BML at sparcs.submissions@health.ny.gov with "VBP QIP Measures" in the subject.

Measure Credits for Quarterly Improvement Target

  • Quarterly measure credits will be earned in the quarter the requirement is met and the three subsequent quarters.
    • Only one measure credit can be earned per year.
    • Unused credits cannot be carried over into future DYs.
      • Measure Credits for Quarterly Improvement Target
  • If the Level 2 VBP contract extends through later years, the Facility is required to re-certify that a contract is in place to earn a measure credit for the next year.

Measure Credits for AIT

  • If a Facility has unawarded P4P funds for not meeting its full Quarterly Improvement Target (QIT) during DY4 or DY5, the Facility has a second opportunity to earn these funds by meeting AIT requirements.
  • If a Facility has an executed Level 2 or higher VBP contract during DY3, the facility can earn an additional measure credit applied to the DY4 AIT measures. If the Facility has an executed Level 2 or higher VBP contract in DY4 or DY5, the facility can earn an additional measure credit applied to the DY5 AIT measures.
    • Measure Credits for AIT
  • A Facility can only receive up to ONE measure credit per QIT and AIT calculation.
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DY3 Timeline and Q&A


VBP QIP DY3 Timeline

Milestone Due Date
DOH reviews VBP QIP MCO Governance Document and distributes Scorecard to MCOs (Group 2) February 23, 2017
VBP QIP – VBP Contracting Webinar (DATE CHANGE) March 1, 2017
VBP QIP DY3 Guidance Released March 10, 2017
Facilities submit their updated, MCO approved, Facility Plan to DOH March 15, 2017
MCOs submit a revised VBP QIP Governance Document to DOH for review (Group 2) March 24, 2017
Facilities must provide paired MCO with LOI to sign Level 1 VBP contracts with one MCO April 1, 2017
Facilities must provide paired MCO with list of Medicaid MCOs which the facility expects to enter into VBP contracts with by April 1, 2018 April 1, 2017
Facilities must have at least one Level 1 VBP contract signed July 1, 2017
Facilities must provide paired MCO with outstanding LOIs for Medicaid MCOs to contract July 1, 2017
Facilities must have Medicaid MCO contracts where at least 80% of total Medicaid MCO contracted payments to the Facility are tied to Level 1 VBP components April 1, 2018

Important Information

VBP Support Materials

VBP Resource Library:
VBP Website:

Thank you for your continued support with VBP QIP!

  • The next VBP QIP Update Webinar is scheduled for March 1st from 3:00 pm – 4:00 pm.
  • For questions on VBP QIP quality measures, please email the SPARCS BML at sparcs.submissions@health.ny.gov with "VBP QIP Measures" in the title.
  • For questions on VBP QIP financing, please contact bmcr@health.ny.gov.
  • For other questions on VBP QIP, please contact the VBP QIP inbox at (vbp_qip@health.ny.gov).
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