Post-Acute Care Quality Programs

Updated Fiscal Year 2028 Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) Program Performance Standards

This communication pertains to the Fiscal Year (FY) 2028 Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) Program performance standards for the Discharge Function Score for SNFs measure which the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published in the FY 2026 SNF Prospective Payment System (PPS) Final Rule on August 4, 2025. The Discharge Function Score for SNFs measure is one of the eight measures included in the SNF VBP Program for the FY 2028 Program year. This communication does not affect the current FY 2027 SNF VBP Program scoring and incentive payments, nor does it affect prior FYs. SNFs do not need to do anything at this time, or in the future. The performance standards for each measure adopted by the SNF VBP Program consist of the achievement threshold and the benchmark. The achievement threshold is the 25th percentile of all SNFs' performance on a measure during the Program year's applicable baseline period, and the benchmark is the mean of the top decile of all SNFs' performance on a measure during the Program year's applicable baseline period. For the FY 2028 SNF VBP Program year, the baseline period is FY 2024, and the performance period is FY 2026, for the Discharge Function Score for SNFs measure. The performance standards are used together with each SNF’s performance on a measure during the baseline period and the performance period to calculate a measure score for each measure, for each SNF.

CMS identified an erroneous exclusion from the sample of facilities included in the calculation of the Discharge Function Score for SNFs measure which affected 155 facilities. Correction of this error expanded the sample of facilities, which impacted the calculation of the achievement threshold and benchmark for the FY 2028 Program year.

The table below displays the original performance standards published in the FY 2026 SNF PPS final rule and the updated performance standards for the FY 2028 Program year. The updated performance standards will be used in upcoming FY 2028 SNF VBP Program scoring and payment calculations. As mentioned above, this update does not affect SNF VBP Program scoring and incentive payments for the current FY 2027 SNF VBP Program, nor did it affect scoring and incentive payments in prior FYs. SNFs do not need to do anything at this time, and this process will not require any future action from providers.

FY 2028 Program Year Discharge Function Score for SNFs Performance Standards

Please contact the SNF VBP Program Help Desk at SNFVBPquestions@cms.hhs.gov with any questions.

Center for Clinical Standards and Quality