Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Spotlights & Announcements
Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Spotlights & Announcements
Updates
November 26, 2025
NOW AVAILABLE: Falls with Major Injury (FMI) LTCH Technical Specification Report
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the official Technical Specification Report for the Falls with Major Injury (FMI) measure. This report incorporates feedback received during the cross-setting Technical Expert Panel (TEP) held on May 12 and 14, 2025. The report provides an overview of the measure, a high-level summary of the key features of the re-specified measure, a description of the methodology used to construct the FMI measure, and an overview of measure testing results. Additional guidance and related updates to the LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) Manual, Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual, and public reporting timelines will be provided at a future date.
The report is available in the Downloads section on the LTCH QRP Measures Information webpage.
November 19, 2025
NOW AVAILABLE: CMS LCDS Version 5.3 Effective October 1, 2026
A draft of the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) Version 5.3, effective October 1, 2026 can be found in the Downloads section on the LCDS & LCDS Manual webpage.
November 14, 2025
CMS is pleased to announce the availability of the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) as a new Research Identifiable File (RIF).
The LCDS is the assessment instrument LTCH providers use to collect patient assessment data in accordance with the LTCH Quality Reporting Program (QRP). Patient assessment data is collected on all patients at admission, discharge (planned or unplanned), and for patients who have expired. Availability of this file includes CY 2014-2023 data.
The data is available for researchers to conduct studies on the use, cost, and quality of Medicare and Medicaid services. To acquire this data, researchers must submit a request packet through the Research Data Assistance Center (ResDAC - https://resdac.org/) that includes Institutional Review Board documentation to satisfy the requirements of the Common Rule and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and a CMS Data Use Agreement (DUA). This packet will be reviewed by the CMS Privacy Board review. In addition, researchers requesting physical shipments of data must complete a security evaluation for the environment where the CMS data will be stored.
November 14, 2025
Reminder of Upcoming Data Submission Deadline
The submission deadline for the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) is approaching. LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) assessment data and data submitted via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for April 1 – June 30 (Q2) of calendar year (CY) 2025 are due with this submission deadline.
All data must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on November 17, 2025.
It is recommended that the applicable Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) reports and NHSN analysis reports are run prior to each quarterly reporting deadline to ensure that all required data were submitted. We encourage you to verify all facility information prior to submission, including CMS Certification Number (CCN) and facility name.
View the list of measures required for the November 17, 2025 deadline on the LTCH Quality Reporting Data Submission Deadlines webpage.
For submission information, visit:
Swingtech sends informational messages to LTCHs that do not meet the Annual Payment Update (APU) threshold on a quarterly basis ahead of each submission deadline. If you need to add or change the email addresses to which these messages are sent, please email QRPHelp@swingtech.com and be sure to include your facility name and CCN along with any requested email updates.
September 25, 2025
LTCH QRP Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual V7.0, Change Table, Risk Adjustment Appendix, and Imputation Appendix – Now Available
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual Version 7.0 and supporting documents are now available.
Version 7.0 includes updated specifications for calculating LTCH QRP quality measures. The accompanying Change Table outlines revisions made since Version 6.0. The Risk Adjustment Appendix provides updated coefficients used in the risk-adjustment models, and the Imputation Appendix contains imputed coefficients for the Discharge Function Score measure.
All files are available in the Downloads section of the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Measures Information | CMS webpage.
September 24, 2025
Public Reporting September 2025 Refresh of LTCH QRP Data – Now Available
The September 2025 refresh of the LTCH QRP data is now available on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and Provider Data Catalog (PDC).
For more information, please visit the LTCH QRP Public Reporting website.
September 15, 2025
LTCH Provider Preview Reports – Now Available
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the December 2025 refresh.
For more information, please visit the LTCH QRP Public Reporting website.
September 12, 2025
LTCH QRP Data Elements Used for Reporting Assessment-Based QMs and Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements Affecting FY 2028 APU Determination and Data Collection and Final Submission Deadlines for FY 2028 posted
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Overview of Data Elements Used for Reporting Assessment-Based Quality Measures and Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements Affecting Fiscal Year (FY) 2028 Annual Payment Update (APU) Determination table and the LTCH QRP Data Collection and Final Submission Deadlines for the FY 2028 LTCH QRP are now available.
The LTCH QRP APU Table can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH QRP Measures Information webpage. The LTCH QRP Data Collection and Final Submission Deadlines can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH QRP Data Submission Deadlines webpage.
September 12, 2025
LTCH QRP FAQs for FY 2026
An update to the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document is now available. This document has been updated to reflect the finalized policies for the LTCH QRP in Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 and includes other useful resources available to providers.
The FAQ document can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH Quality Reporting FAQs webpage.
August 12, 2025
Reminder of Upcoming Data Submission Deadline
The submission deadline for the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) is approaching. LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) assessment data and data submitted via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for January 1 – March 31 (Q1) of calendar year (CY) 2025 are due with this submission deadline.
All data must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on August 18, 2025.
It is recommended that the applicable Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) reports and NHSN analysis reports are run prior to each quarterly reporting deadline to ensure that all required data were submitted. We encourage you to verify all facility information prior to submission, including CMS Certification Number (CCN) and facility name.
View the list of measures required for the August 18, 2025 deadline on the LTCH Quality Reporting Data Submission Deadlines webpage.
For submission information, visit:
Swingtech sends informational messages to LTCHs that do not meet the Annual Payment Update (APU) threshold on a quarterly basis ahead of each submission deadline. If you need to add or change the email addresses to which these messages are sent, please email QRPHelp@swingtech.com and be sure to include your facility name and CCN along with any requested email updates.
August 11, 2025
NOW AVAILABLE: May 2025 Falls with Major Injury Technical Expert Panel (TEP) Summary Report
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) convened a Technical Expert Panel (TEP) on May 12 and 14, 2025, to obtain input on potential cross-setting updates to the Falls with Major Injury (FMI) measure. The TEP was held in response to concerns regarding potential underreporting on the current measure and recommendations from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) in its 2023 report. The OIG report recommended that CMS pursue measure respecification, including consideration of alternative data sources, such as claims-based data, and transitioning the measure to a hybrid model. CMS has released the official TEP Summary Report, which provides an overview of the panel’s discussion and feedback on proposed updates to the measure.
CMS intends to move forward with updates to the FMI measure based on input received during the TEP. Additional guidance related to updates to the Quality Measures User’s Manual, clinical guidance manuals, technical specifications, and public reporting timelines will be provided at a future date. In the interim, stakeholders are encouraged to review the TEP Summary Report for additional detail on the proposed updates and the rationale discussed by the TEP.
The TEP Summary Report can be found in the Downloads section on the LTCH QRP Measures Information webpage.
July 31, 2025
Long Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment system (PPS) and Updates to the Quality Reporting Program (QRP) for FY 2026 LTCH PPS Final Rule (CMS-1833-F).
On July 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (CMS-1833-F) that provides updates to the fiscal year (FY) Long Term Care Hospital Quality Reporting Program (LTCH QRP). In this final rule, CMS is removing the COVID-19 Vaccine: Percent of Patients/Residents Who Are Up to Date vaccine item (O0350) from the LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) as it pertains to patients who expire in an LTCH and four assessment items in the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) category: one item for Living Situation, two items for Food, and one item for Utilities. CMS is also amending the LTCH QRP reconsideration policy and process. Finally, CMS is summarizing feedback on three Requests for Information (RFI) including future quality measure concepts for the LTCH QRP; potential revisions to the data submission deadlines for assessment data collected for the LTCH QRP; and advancing digital quality measurement in LTCHs that were in the proposed rule.
The final rule went on display at the Federal Register and will be available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection
July 30, 2025
LTCH Quality Reporting Program: Reopening of September 2025 Preview Period
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Provider Preview Reports, which are now available for provider review. These revised reports contain corrected provider performance scores for quality measures that will be published on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the September 2025 refresh.
Important Update: CMS identified and resolved technical issues that affected the following quality measure calculations in the initial September 2025 preview data:
- LTCH Discharge Function
The updated reports reflect the most accurate performance data and ensure the integrity of publicly reported quality measures.
Extended Review Period: Providers have until August 28, 2025, to review their updated performance data and submit any necessary corrections or requests for data review.
For more information, please visit the LTCH Provider Preview Reports section of the LTCH QRP Public Reporting webpage.
July 21, 2025
LTCH Quality Reporting Program: Non-Compliance Notifications
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing notifications to Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) that were determined to be out of compliance with LTCH Quality Reporting Program (QRP) requirements for calendar year (CY) 2024, which will affect their fiscal year (FY) 2026 Annual Payment Update (APU). Non-compliance notifications will be distributed by the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and will be placed into facilities’ My Reports folders in the Internet Quality Improvement Evaluation System (iQIES) on July 21, 2025. Facilities that receive a letter of non-compliance may submit a request for reconsideration to CMS via email no later than 11:59 pm, August 26, 2025. If you receive a notice of non-compliance and would like to request a reconsideration, see the instructions in your notification letter and on the LTCH Quality Reporting Reconsideration and Exception & Extension webpage.
Please note: Any reconsideration containing protected health information (PHI) will not be processed. All PHI must be removed for a reconsideration to be reviewed.
Additionally, all submissions must be less than 20 MB overall (email message and attachments). Submissions that are greater than 20 MB in size cannot be processed.
June 30, 2025
CMS LCDS Quarterly Q&As, June 2025, Consolidated September 2020 to June 2025
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is publishing the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) Quarterly Q&As, in June of 2025. The document contains the consolidated Q&As from September 2020 to june 2025 so that all LTCH providers have the benefit of clarifications to existing guidance. Through inquiries to the LTCH Post-Acute Care (PAC) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Help Desk, CMS identifies the opportunity to clarify or refine guidance.
The Quarterly Q&A document can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH CARE Data Set and LCDS Manual webpage.
May 2, 2025
Reminder of Upcoming Data Submission Deadline
The submission deadline for the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) is approaching. LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) assessment data and data submitted via the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) for October 1 – December 31 (Q4) of calendar year (CY) 2024 are due with this submission deadline. The annual NHSN measure Influenza Vaccination among Healthcare Personnel is also due with this deadline.
All data must be submitted no later than 11:59 p.m. on May 15, 2025.
It is recommended that the applicable Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) reports and NHSN analysis reports are run prior to each quarterly reporting deadline to ensure that all required data were submitted. We encourage you to verify all facility information prior to submission, including CMS Certification Number (CCN) and facility name.
View the list of measures required for this deadline on the LTCH Quality Reporting Data Submission Deadlines webpage.
For submission information, visit:
Swingtech sends informational messages to LTCHs that do not meet the Annual Payment Update (APU) threshold on a quarterly basis ahead of each submission deadline. If you need to add or change the email addresses to which these messages are sent, please email QRPHelp@swingtech.com and be sure to include your facility name and CCN along with any requested email updates.
April 11, 2025
Long Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment system (PPS) and Updates to the Quality Reporting Program (QRP) for FY 2026 LTCH PPS Proposed Rule (CMS-1833-P).
On April 11, 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule (CMS-1833-P) that provides updates to the fiscal year (FY) Long Term Care Hospital Quality Reporting Program (LTCH QRP). In this proposed rule, CMS is proposing the removal of the COVID-19 Vaccine: Percent of Patients/Residents Who Are Up to Date vaccine item (O0350) from the LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) as it pertains to patients who expire in an LTCH and four assessment items in the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) category: one item for Living Situation, two items for Food, and one item for Utilities. CMS is also proposing to amend the LTCH QRP reconsideration policy and process. Finally, CMS is seeking feedback with three Requests for Information (RFI) including future quality measure concepts for the LTCH QRP; potential revisions to the data submission deadlines for assessment data collected for the LTCH QRP; and advancing digital quality measurement in LTCHs.
The proposed rule went on display at the Federal Register and will be available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/current
March 26, 2025
Public Reporting March 2025 Refresh of LTCH QRP Data – Now Available
The March 2025 refresh of the LTCH QRP data is now available on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and Provider Data Catalog (PDC).
For more information, please visit the LTCH QRP Public Reporting website.
March 14, 2025
LTCH Provider Preview Reports – Now Available
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on the compare tool on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the June 2025 refresh.
For more information, please visit the LTCH QRP Public Reporting website.
December 18, 2024
Public Reporting December 2024 Refresh of LTCH QRP Data – Now Available
The December 2024 refresh of the LTCH QRP data is now available on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and Provider Data Catalog (PDC).
For more information, please visit the LTCH QRP Public Reporting webpage.
December 16, 2024
CMS LCDS Quarterly Q&As, December 2024, Consolidated September 2020 to December 2024
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is publishing the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) Quarterly Q&As, in December of 2024. The document contains the consolidated Q&As from September 2020 to December 2024 so that all LTCH providers have the benefit of clarifications to existing guidance. Through inquiries to the LTCH Post-Acute Care (PAC) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Help Desk, CMS identifies the opportunity to clarify or refine guidance.
The Quarterly Q&A document can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH CARE Data Set and LCDS Manual webpage.
December 16, 2024
LTCH Provider Preview Reports – Now Available
The LTCH Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the March 2025 refresh.
September 25, 2024
Public Reporting September Refresh of LTCH QRP Data – Now Available
The September 2024 refresh of the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) data is now available on Medicare.gov and Provider Data Catalog (PDC).
For more information, please visit the LTCH QRP Public Reporting webpage.
September 16, 2024
LTCH Provider Preview Reports – Now Available
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on Medicare.gov and Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the December 2024 refresh.
For more information, please visit the CMS LTCH QRP Public Reporting webpage.
September 4, 2024
UPDATED RESOURCE AVAILABLE: From Data Elements to Quality Measures Cross-Setting Web-Based Training
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering an updated web-based training course that provides a high-level overview of how data elements are used to construct quality measures used across post-acute care settings.
This resource can be accessed through the LTCH QRP Training webpage.
September 3, 2024
LTCH QRP FAQs for FY 2025
An update to the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) document is now available. This document has been updated to reflect the finalized policies for the LTCH QRP in Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 and includes other useful resources available to providers.
The FAQ document can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH QRP FAQs webpage.
September 3, 2024
LTCH QRP Data Elements Used for Reporting Assessment-Based QMs and Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements Affecting FY 2027 APU Determination and Data Collection and Final Submission Deadlines for FY 2027 posted
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Overview of Data Elements Used for Reporting Assessment-Based Quality Measures and Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements Affecting Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Annual Payment Update (APU) Determination table and the LTCH QRP Data Collection and Final Submission Deadlines for the FY 2027 LTCH QRP are now available.
The FY 2027 LTCH QRP APU Table can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH QRP Measures Information webpage. The FY 2027 LTCH QRP Data Collection and Final Submission Deadlines can be accessed via the Downloads section of the LTCH QRP Data Submission Deadlines webpage.
August 30, 2024
LTCH QRP Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual V6.0, Change Table, Risk Adjustment Appendix File, and Imputation Appendix File – Now Available
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Quality Measure Calculations and Reporting User’s Manual Version 6.0 and accompanying documents are now available. These documents serve as an update to the specifications used to calculate quality measures that are included in the LTCH QRP effective October 1, 2024.
These files can be found in the Downloads section of the CMS LTCH QRP Quality Reporting Measures Information webpage.
August 26, 2024
UPDATED RESOURCE AVAILABLE: Section GG Web-Based Training Series
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering an updated series of web-based training courses that provide an overview of the assessment and Section GG guidance found in the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) Manual Version 5.1 to promote accurate coding of the post-acute care (PAC) cross-setting data elements.
This resource can be accessed through the LTCH QRP Training webpage.
August 26, 2024
LCDS Version 5.2 Item Sets posted
The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) Version 5.2 item sets are now available.
The LCDS 5.2 Item Sets can be accessed via the Downloads section of the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) and LCDS Manual webpage.
August 1, 2024
IPPS/LTCH PPS for FY 2025; and Updates to the LTCH QRP (CMS-1808-F)
On August 1, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (CMS-1808-F) that finalizes updates to the fiscal year (FY) 2028 Long-Term Care Hospital Quality Reporting Program (LTCH QRP) including requiring LTCH’s to collect and submit through the LTCH Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (CARE) Data Set (LCDS) four new assessment items in the Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) category: one item for Living Situation, two items for Food, and one item for Utilities. CMS is also modifying the current Transportation item and extending the three-day assessment window to a four-day assessment window. Finally, CMS is summarizing the feedback received on two Requests for Information (RFIs) on quality measure concepts under consideration for future LTCH QRP years and a star rating system for publicly reporting LTCH QRP measures on Medicare.gov.
The final rule went on display at the Federal Register and will be available at: Federal Register
July 24, 2024
NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE: Patient Mood Interview (Patient Health Questionnaire PHQ-2 to 9©) Video Tutorial
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a video tutorial for completing D0150, Patient Mood Interview (PHQ-2 to 9) and D0160, Total Severity Score. Within the video, the PHQ-2 to 9 assessment and related coding is demonstrated using excerpts from two patient interviews.
This resource can be accessed through the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Training webpage.
July 19, 2024
NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE: What You Need to Know: PAC QRP Key Program Updates – FY/CY 2025 Web-Based Training
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a web-based training course that provides an overview of key updates to the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025.
This resource can be accessed through the LTCH QRP Training webpage.