(a) Points awarded based on hospital performance.

(1) CMS will award points to hospitals for performance on each measure for which the hospital reports the applicable minimum number of cases during the applicable performance period.

(2) CMS will award from 1 to 9 points for achievement to each hospital whose performance on a measure during the applicable performance period meets or exceeds the achievement threshold but is less than the benchmark for that measure.

(3) CMS will award from 0 to 9 points for improvement to each hospital whose performance on a measure during the applicable performance period exceeds the improvement threshold but is less than the benchmark for that measure.

(4) CMS will award 10 points to a hospital whose performance on a measure during the applicable performance period meets or exceeds the benchmark for that measure.

(b) Calculation of the Total Performance Score. The hospital's Total Performance Score for a program year is calculated as follows:

(1) CMS will calculate a domain score for a hospital when it reports the minimum number of measures in the domain.

(2) CMS will sum all points awarded for each measure in a domain to calculate an unweighted domain score.

(3) CMS will normalize each domain score to ensure that it is expressed as a percentage of points earned out of 100.

(4) CMS will weight the domain scores with the finalized domain weights for each fiscal year.

(5) The sum of the weighted domain scores is the hospital's Total Performance Score for the fiscal year.

(c) Extraordinary circumstances exception.

(1) A hospital may request and CMS may grant exceptions to the Hospital VBP Program's requirements under this section when there are certain extraordinary circumstances beyond the control of the hospital.

(2) A hospital may request an exception within 90 calendar days of the date that the extraordinary circumstances occurred by submitting a completed Extraordinary Circumstances Request Form (available on the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program section of the QualityNet website (QualityNet.org)), and any available evidence of the impact of the extraordinary circumstances on the hospital's quality measure performance. The form must be sent via secure file transfer via the QualityNet Secure portal, secure fax, email, or conventional mail.

(3) Following receipt of the request form, CMS will provide a written acknowledgement using the contact information provided in the request, to the CEO and any additional designated personnel, notifying them that the hospital's request has been received, and provide a written response to the CEO and any additional designated personnel using the contact information provided in the request.

(4) CMS may grant an exception to one or more hospitals that have not requested an exception if CMS determines that an extraordinary circumstance has affected an entire region or locale, which may include the entire United States. CMS will notify hospitals that it has granted an exception under this paragraph via multiple methods, which may include memos, emails, and notices posted on the public QualityNet website (see https://www.qualitynet.org).

[50 FR 12741, Mar. 29, 1985, as amended at 85 FR 27621, May, 8, 2020]