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Rate Reform, QIP, and Provider Directory Highlights
| | | Thank you for reading these latest updates and tracking progress on developments for rate reform, the Quality Incentive Program (QIP), and the Provider Directory. We appreciate the ongoing partnership and patience of all regional centers and service providers in advancing these efforts. This work is a major investment in the infrastructure and future of California’s developmental disabilities services system. | | |
Rate Reform Update:
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The Department continues to meet with regional centers regularly to provide technical assistance on rate reform transitions. Regional centers can reach out to ratesquestions@dds.ca.gov for technical assistance requests.
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The deadline to complete the Service Acknowledgement Form has been extended from March 31, 2025, to May 30, 2025, for regional centers and providers to make the correct service code alignments and rate adjustments.
- The Department is meeting with stakeholder workgroups to discuss service area specific issues related to rate models.
- Some of these areas include Transportation, Early Start, Employment, Behavior and Day Services.
- The Department is also reviewing options for reimbursing excessive travel for services to individuals in rural areas or mileage that varies significantly from the rates models.
- The Department is processing exemption requests for services that do not align with a current service code. Service providers that feel that they do not align with one of the updated service descriptions should be meeting with their Regional Center to review options.
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Current rate models, including applicable minimum wage and IRS mileage updates, are available on the DDS Rate Models and Rates Webpage.
Quality Incentive Program (QIP) Update:
- The Department continues to issue QIP one-time incentive payments and includes instructions to regional centers with each release. Regional centers will have 90 days to issue payments.
- The following table outlines all QIP payments to-date, as well as the tentative release schedule of future QIP payments.
Summary of One-Time Incentive QIP Payments
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*Tentative Release Date
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Focus groups continue to meet to discuss high level goals and potential reporting and quality measures for providers in FY 2026-27, 2027-28, and beyond. Members of the public can show their interest in joining the discussions by filling out the focus group interest survey on the QIP webpage.
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Provider reporting measures for FY 2026-27 will be finalized by late summer 2025 and announced to providers and the public.
Provider Directory Update:
The progress outlined below would not have been possible without your collaboration and support. Thank you for adapting to and supporting the rollout of the Provider Directory and the transition to centralized provider data management. We’re excited about what has been achieved to date and optimistic about improving the accuracy and completeness of provider information.
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Growing the Directory: The Provider Directory now includes over 16,500 service providers.
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Recent Progress: Outreach efforts are ongoing and together we are making significant progress in adding qualified providers to the Directory. Over the last two months, we successfully added more than 8,500 vendor records. Each of the impacted providers received one of two possible emails – a welcome or notification that additional records had been loaded.
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Enhancements: We are also pleased to share that the enhancement release on March 11th was smooth, and providers continue to submit their records.
- Regional center approvers should prioritize reviewing and approving request items (RITM). Currently, there are 271 RITMs awaiting response in the Directory. To view them, approvers can navigate to the Pending Cases tab and look for request items in the bottom table of that tab. Clearing those will help alleviate possible confusion for providers about records that need confirmation, as opposed to RITMs pending approval.
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SANDIS Integration: Provider Directory information is now accessible directly in SANDIS to support regional centers in having the most up-to-date vendor information for directory-qualified vendors.
| | Next Steps (Key take aways, action items, or important dates): | | |
Rate Reform:
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Regional centers and service providers now have through May 30, 2025, to finalize the correct service code alignments, the rate and the Service Acknowledgement Form. Once the Service Acknowledgement Form is completed, regional centers will begin to update authorizations, as needed, from the transitional rate to the updated aligned service code(s), subcode(s) and rate model rate.
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Through December 31, 2025, service providers will continue to use the transitional rate for each individual currently receiving services until their individual authorization begins utilizing the new rate model service code(s), subcode(s) and rates.
- The Department will continue meeting with workgroups as issues are identified.
Quality Incentive Program (QIP):
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Individuals and families, providers, and members of the public interested in participating in focus group discussions about QIP quality measures are encouraged to complete a short survey on the QIP webpage. The survey will be open through June 2025.
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The Employment Access and Employment Capacity incentive measures continue through June 30, 2025. Providers are encouraged to take advantage of these opportunities to earn quality incentives, in addition to the rate model quality incentive component.
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Keep an eye on the Department’s Events webpage for upcoming QIP Workgroup meetings. Workgroup meetings are open to the public and held from 2pm – 4pm PT on these dates:
- June 16, 2025
- September 15, 2025
- December 15, 2025
Provider Directory:
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The Department has released guidance on the requirements for the Provider Directory, as well as a process for new providers and those not currently in the directory.
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All active service providers are required to be in the Provider Directory as part of their vendorization requirements, regardless of QIP eligibility. There are service providers who have not engaged in efforts to enter data in the Provider Directory. The Department, in coordination with the vendoring regional center, will make efforts to contact these service providers to get them loaded into the Provider Directory. This group will have until May 30, 2025, to complete this activity and keep/earn the benchmark rate.
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