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Tools and Guidelines for Regional Healthcare Partnership Participants

Immediate Guidance to Regional Healthcare Partnerships (RHPs):

  • Companion Document: HHSC has released a DRAFT version of a companion document that can be used to help providers understand the next steps they should take to revise projects in response to CMS Initial Review Findings about RHP Plans (updated 5/3/13). This document will be finalized after receiving CMS and stakeholder input
  • Collaboration: On January 18, a notice was sent to all stakeholders of the Texas 1115 Transformation Waiver providing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) guidance regarding Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) projects that were proposed under the collaboration option (PDF) (posted 1/22/2013) in the Program Funding and Mechanics (PFM) Protocol.
  • Project Valuation: Formal feedback on each Regional Healthcare Partnership (RHP) plan will include review of project valuation. This feedback is intended to help providers improve projects to justify the proposed project values based on variables the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has indicated are priorities. This guidance on project valuation (PDF) (posted 1/18/2013) was provided on January 16, 2013.
  • Next Steps, Common Issues, & Summary Information: HHSC is providing Immediate Guidance (PDF) (posted 12/6/2012) to RHPs about the next steps in the plan review process, common issues identified through a high-level review of Pass 1 projects, and  summary information that HHSC is requesting that providers add to the beginning of each project. HHSC requests that for the full RHP plan submission, each project (including Pass 1 projects) include key project information at the beginning of the Section V Project Description. The specific requested information is contained in the Immediate Guidance (PDF) (posted 12/6/2012).

Regional Healthcare Partnership (RHP) Planning Protocol

CMS has granted final approval of this Regional Healthcare Partnership (RHP) Planning Protocol document (PDF). This document was updated Oct. 1, 2012, to include minor technical corrections (PDF). The protocol provides the menu of project options approved by HHSC and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that contribute to delivery transformation and quality improvement. The only projects eligible for payments from the DSRIP pool are those contained in this menu that are implemented as outlined in an RHP Plan approved by HHSC and CMS, with corresponding measures, milestones and performance improvement targets. The links below open individual sections of the approved protocol and include the Oct. 1, 2012 technical corrections.

CMS has provided a list of Category 3 Outcomes that will be acceptable for Workforce Projects (posted 11/2/2012).

Category 4 Guidance (posted 11/12/2012)

DSRIP Allocation:

Quality Tools:

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) provides the following information that may be useful to Performing Providers when selecting measures for waiver projects:

  • Tutorial on Quality Measures details the attributes of desirable quality measures, discusses validity of measures, and provides guidance on selecting, applying and interpreting quality measures.

  • Quality and Patient Safety provides links to a variety of tools and toolkits.

National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC) includes links to the HHS Measures Inventory (a repository of measures currently being used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services) and a database of National Quality Forum (NQF) Endorsed Measures.

Regional Healthcare Partnership (RHP) Plan Template:

Program Funding and Mechanics Protocol:

Changes to the Program Funding and Mechanics protocol are effective April 4, 2013, specific to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid review of Regional Healthcare Partnership Plans. HHSC and CMS have agreed to a phased approval process for DSRIP projects to enable timely initial approval of most projects. 

A summary of the DSRIP Project Requirements (posted 8/31/2012) also is available.

Uncompensated Care Tool:

Please visit the Rate Analysis for Hospital Services website for information regarding the Uncompensated Care Reporting Tools and Transition Payments.

Regional Healthcare Partnership Information:

Other Planning Tools:

Each regional healthcare partnership must submit a plan to HHSC. The following documents are intended to help with the planning process.

Other HHSC Guidelines:

Evaluation: