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DHS says psychiatric residential treatment facility rules moving to final form; performance‑based contracting already altering provider tiers
Summary
Officials told lawmakers they are continuing stakeholder meetings on proposed psychiatric residential treatment facility (PRTF) regulations and that performance‑based contracting for residential providers has produced early tier determinations and capacity‑building funds to support higher standards.
HARRISBURG — Department of Human Services officials said they are still reviewing public comments on proposed psychiatric residential treatment facility rules and expect to submit final‑form regulations to the regulatory commission later in the year. At the same hearing, the department described an active effort to implement performance‑based contracting for residential providers, with early tier results and funding for capacity building.
Deputy Secretary Smith told the committee: "We still do intend to get the final form regulations submitted to ERC during calendar year 2025." She said the department received a significant volume of stakeholder comments and planned additional webinars to reconcile competing positions.
Nut graf: DHS said the PRTF rule‑making process will continue through stakeholder engagement; simultaneously, performance‑based contracting has begun to classify providers into tiers that carry payment incentives and capacity‑building resources.
On performance‑based contracting, Deputy Secretary Arons described an initial submission round for residential providers: 36 providers submitted data; the department reported that 25 providers ultimately were determined to be in the higher "select" or "clinically enhanced" tiers in that round. Officials said a second submission round was underway and that, as of the hearing, 65 additional applications were under review.
Arons and the secretary emphasized that the program includes funding to help providers meet the new standards. "There's also pay for performance. We've got about $40,000,000 that's available for capacity building for the provider community to support them with meeting the new standards with performance based contracting," Arons said.
Lawmakers raised concerns about possible regulatory duplication; DHS said it is examining whether higher‑performing providers can face fewer overlapping oversight visits if they meet quality thresholds under the new model.
Ending: DHS said it is continuing stakeholder engagement on PRTF rules and expects further provider submissions and tier determinations in the coming months; the department said it will deploy capacity‑building dollars to support the transition.
