June 11, 2026
Critical Access Hospitals: Download Your FY 2025 PEPPER
CMS released the FY 2025 Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Reports (PEPPERs) for critical access hospitals. PEPPERs help hospitals review their billing data to make sure claims are accurate. They can use them to:
- Spot billing patterns that may need improvement.
- Identify areas that may need audits or closer monitoring.
- Find Diagnosis-Related Groups that may be under-coded or over-coded.
- Track areas where patient stays are getting longer.
How to get your PEPPER: Authorized officials (AOs), access managers (AMs), and staff end users (SEUs) can download their organization’s report from the PEPPER Portal.
How to become an SEU:
- Sign in to the Identity & Access (I&A) System
using your existing NPPES or PECOS credentials. - Request the PEPPER business function under your organization.
- Your request must be approved by your AO or AM:
- See the I&A System Quick Reference Guide
and FAQs
. - Contact the External User Services Help Desk
for assistance.
- See the I&A System Quick Reference Guide
Review the User Guide
for more information.

