The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) said in late May that it will relaunch PEPPER reports for all provider types in “coming months,” restoring an important tool many nursing homes use for internal compliance and auditing purposes.
The Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) reveals how often and to what extent facilities are billing traditional Medicare for key therapy and nursing services, and how long they’re keeping patients in-house. Claims data is used to show how a single facility’s claims in targeted, high-risk areas stack up against averages in their state and the nation.
The PEPPER reports are intended as a resource for the government’s own compliance work, each report is accessible to the measured facility so that it can assess its own trends and outlier data. PEPPER reports were last made available in April 2023. The following year, CMS said it would be pausing publication, reevaluating the metrics included and aiming to enhance their quality.
In an MLN Connects article (MLN Connects Newsletter for May 28, 2026 | CMS, CMS encouraged providers to ensure authorized officials, access managers and staff end users have access to the system. The agency also said providers could still expect to use the annual reports to:
• Spot billing patterns that may need review or improvement
• Identify areas that may need closer monitoring or internal audits
• Find services that may be under-coded or over-coded
• Track trends such as longer patient stays
• Take action before problems arise
The reports also clearly signal where providers can expect more government scrutiny and are most effective when used proactively.
