Home Health & Hospice Week

What software do you plan to use?

Collecting the clinical information you need for the new Hospice Information Set is only half the battle. You must master data submission for the new hospice quality reporting program tool as well.

HIS data submission will be very similar to OASIS data submission for home health agencies, acknowledged Kathy Langenberg with CMS contractor and Quality Improvement Organization Telligen (formerly IFMC).

For example: In both HIS and OASIS data submission processes, the agency first logs into the Centers for Medicare & Medicare Services’ Wide Area Network, then uses a self-selected user ID to log into the system for reporting the data, Langen-berg explained in CMS’s Jan. 22 Open Door Forum for home health and hospice providers.

Hospices will have their own separate home page and portal in Medicare’s Quality Improvement & Evaluation System (QIES). "But the process itself is the same" as OASIS, Langenberg said.

Take these steps to make sure you’re prepared for the data submission part of HIS by the time July 1 rolls around:

• Check your computer system. CMS lists minimum requirements for your computer system on its QTSO website at www.qtso.com, Langenberg pointed out in the forum dedicated to HIS. Give the fiscal year 2014 requirements to your IT department so you can address any system shortcomings well before the July 1 HIS deadline.
• Settle on software. You have options regarding what software you’ll use for HIS data submission, Langenberg pointed out. You could buy software from a third-party vendor, create your own software, or use CMS’s free Hospice Extraction and Report Tool (HEART) software. CMS plans to make HEART available May 15, less than six weeks before the implementation date.

"Take the time, look at your options, and determine which software option best meets your needs," Langenberg advised.

• Use educational materials. Mark your calendar to watch CMS’s WebEx training videos on HIS data submission when they come out the first week of May. The videos will be "very short," Langenberg promised. And be sure to read the technical User’s Guide CMS will publish, she added.

"Treat this just as if you were going to an actual training conference," Langenberg urged. "It really is critical to ensure successful registration for your User IDs as well as subsequent submission of HIS records for the quality reporting."

Watch for information on the training materials at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Hospice-Item-Set-HIS.html.

• Register for User IDs. You can’t use User IDs from past years when HIS data submission starts, Langenberg confirmed. You’ll need to register for two new ones. Registration opens May 19.

Registering for the IDs "does take some time," Langenberg noted. "Therefore we strongly encourage you to not wait until the last minute to go through the process of obtaining your User IDs."