"PEPPER allows me to, at a glance, identify if I have any areas of concern for my agency; I value receiving this report annually."

"We review each report to establish patterns of practice and opportunities for improvement."

"Comparing the data in the “readmission” target areas provided very valuable insight that there was a problem and indicated the changes were required. Options were explored and the changes implemented were validated in the subsequent months because we had decrease in readmissions to our hospital and to elsewhere."

“We use PEPPER to identify issues related to utilization, compliance, quality, medical necessity and coding/DRG validation. We use the data as a benchmarking tool and to monitor improvement within the organization as well as among our peers.”

"Our hospital uses its PEPPER to identify trends, potential outliers and any significant changes from one quarter to the next.”

“We use PEPPER to monitor high-risk areas and potential physician education needs related to documentation or admission practices.”

“We review PEPPER for variation and focus on the areas of risk and seek to understand what is contributing. Sometimes this requires additional review and we will conduct a focus audit. We work on improving our processes if we identify a gap (actual vs. desired process or practice) and report the results and plan to our compliance committee.”

“We review many of the categories contained in the PEPPER to assure we are meeting medical necessity. We have made a real effort in review and changing our One-day Stay patterns, and are also looking at readmissions currently, based on the PEPPER data.”

“We utilize the PEPPER in a variety of ways. Here are some broad areas: 1) Review at the Utilization Review Committee, 2) Utilize to focus drill down reviews if any outlier areas, 3) Utilize benchmarks to determine goals for focus areas, 4) Educate Administration and Medical Staff on opportunities for improvement and 5) Educate Case Management team on areas of focus.”

“Our hospital uses PEPPER for process improvement. We focus on 3-day qualifying stays and increased emergency admits from the ED. We organized a team to reduce 30-day readmissions. We instituted a clinical documentation specialist and review PEPPER outliers in clinical core groups.”

“The QI Director, Compliance Officer, HIM Director and Case Management Director all meet to review every new PEPPER. The report is also sent to the CEO and CFO, and the team can investigate any questions they may have. We look for trends and outliers and have on occasion completed an intensified review of certain DRG admissions to identify and validate how we are coding/applying admission review and continued stay criteria. We compare our LOS with other facilities. Finally, the QI Director and Compliance Officer review the PEPPER with the compliance committee.”

“Our PEPPER is reported at UR committee. We drill into data when we are shown as outliers. Explanations are provided to Medical Staff, Administration and Corporate as needed. Corrective action plans are also instituted as needed.”

“The PEPPERs are reviewed at our utilization review committee meeting and with the case management staff and at the compliance committee meetings. Our hospital develops action plans for indicators that fall out two or more consecutive quarters. Action plans always include educational components.”

“PEPPER information is shared with our hospital UM committee, senior leadership, Medical Records department and corporate compliance. It is very helpful and assists us in identifying areas for internal auditing and education.”

“Our Utilization Management Team (multidisciplinary) reviews the PEPPER data for each quarter. It is used to identify areas of opportunity to ensure quality care, quality and compliant coding, quality documentation and compliant utilization review.”

"PEPPER is used to communicate to our hospital staff, medical staff and board. We use it as a learning, utilization review and quality improvement tool.”

“PEPPERs are shared with the administration, revenue cycle management committee, coding staff and medical staff as both an education offering and to identify areas of improvement.”

“PEPPERs are utilized by a variety of disciplines. The data are shared with staff of QI, HIM, as well as with the Medical Director. Any significant variances are reported up to the Board of Trustees through the Compliance Committee. The PEPPER has also been the springboard for reviews/follow-up training, both internal and external.”

“As the UM-RN with a strong quality and clinical data analyst background I have loved the PEPPER from the first one I saw back in 2007. I think it helps to let hospitals know how they are comparing to others. This is only one aspect and each individual hospital should be able to "talk" to their specific data.”

“PEPPER helps our hospital benchmark with other hospitals in our state and region and identify negative trends that may be missed opportunities otherwise.”

“PEPPER helps in determining chart audits, clinical resource utilization and trending readmission rates. PEPPER gives a snapshot of how we are doing, or did the last quarter in comparison to others.”

“Review of PEPPER is a collaborative effort whereby outlier areas are analyzed by Case Management, Medical Records and Finance.”

“Each PEPPER is utilized by the Resource Management, Medical Records and Corporate Compliance Office. Records are identified and audited for trends. Data is presented to the Utilization Management Committee of Physicians and Executives.”

“I am the Corporate Director for four facilities and we are using PEPPER data to determine areas of concern and improvement. The data is discussed in the UR committees and forwarded on to other appropriate committees. Action plans have been developed from study of this data.”

“I report on PEPPER to the corporate compliance committee and we track trends. As coding manager, I utilize PEPPER to set auditing activities.”

“I took the PEPPER and presented it to medical staff at their monthly meeting, pointing out some areas of concern and need for improvement. PEPPER is also presented to our compliance team.”

“Our hospital uses its PEPPER for identification of clinical documentation improvement opportunities, areas for process improvement, risks for audits and to identify the areas where we have improved.”

“We use PEPPER to identify areas needing additional education and for tracking improvement after educational initiatives.”

“PEPPER information is provided to administrative staff and physicians to show how we compare to other facilities, and it also alerts us to potential RAC concerns.”