The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the calendar year 2025 Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) for home health agencies, along with an updated user guide.

PEPPER gives each agency a comparative analysis of its Medicare claims data, helping providers identify billing patterns that may warrant further review. Agencies can use the report to:

• Spot billing practices that may need review or improvement
• Identify areas requiring closer monitoring or internal auditing
• Detect services that may be under-coded or over-coded
• Track trends, including longer patient stays

PEPPER findings do not necessarily indicate improper billing. Instead, the report serves as a compliance and auditing tool that can help agencies identify potential vulnerabilities, investigate unusual patterns, and determine whether corrective action may be appropriate.

How to Access Your Agency’s PEPPER

Providers may download their organization’s report through the PEPPER Portal.

If you are not currently an authorized user for your agency, follow these instructions from Palmetto GBA to request access to your agency’s PEPPER.

User Guide and Upcoming Webinar

The updated Home Health Agency PEPPER User Guide provides additional information to help agencies understand their reports and interpret the data.

CMS will also host a webinar on Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 1:00 PM ET, covering the relaunched PEPPER for home health agencies and partial hospitalization programs. Click here to register online.

Home health agencies are encouraged to download their reports and incorporate the findings into their ongoing compliance, auditing, and performance-improvement activities. Click here to view CMS’s announcement for additional information.