Home Health & Hospice Week

Catch new HQRP Forum.

The draft Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation instrument is in its final phase of testing, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official confirmed in the agency’s Sept. 21 Open Door Forum for home health and hospice agencies. CMS has been recruiting hospices for the ultimate beta testing phase through this month, announcing on Sept. 6 it still had “new openings” for hospice beta testers.

After data collection is complete from the testing, a team will analyze that data and collect feedback from the participating hospices for the final version and implementation, the CMS staffer told forum attendees.

Other hospice issues addressed in the forum include:

• HQRP Forum. If you were so busy this summer that you missed the quality updates in the 2023 hospice final rule, you have a chance to review them with CMS’ help. The agency will cover that topic, as well as recent public reporting activity, in its Sept. 28 HQRP Forum webinar, a CMS source reminded. Register at https://register.gotowebinar.com/ register/6692944306731233291.
• Care Compare. Don’t forget the next Hospice Care Compare refresh is coming in November. Hospices received their preview reports for the update on Aug. 17, a CMS official reviewed. The comparison website is still skipping over data from the first two quarters of the COVID-19 public health emergency, she explained.

Tip: CMS encourages providers to download and save their preview reports, because they are gone after 60 days in CASPER, the speaker advised.

• New versions of HQRP documents. You can access an updated Third Edition HQRP Public Reporting Tip Sheet and HQRP Acronym List at the HQRP webpage www.cms.gov/medicare/quality-initiatives-patient-assessment-instruments/ hospice-quality-reporting/spotlight — scroll down to the Sept. 14 entries.

The newest Tip Sheet version helps “providers understand public reporting for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program in the midst of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE),” CMS says in a separate announcement.

The Acronym List includes “acronyms commonly used throughout HQRP training materials and presentations,” CMS says in a message to providers.