Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't get spooked by new wording in Medicare's Hospice Quality Reporting Program Hospice Item Set timeliness reports for 2019 and 2020.

A footnote in the 2019 reports now reads "Per requirements set forth by CMS, 80% of all required HIS records must be submitted within the 30-day submission deadline to avoid the 2-percentage point reduction in the FY 2019 APU. Extensions and exceptions approved according to CMS policy have not been applied in the score calculations. As such, the score in this report is considered preliminary." The 2020 report will include the same language with the 90 percent threshold.

The change: "The submission requirements have not changed," the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in a message to providers. "Only the wording of the footnote has been enhanced to clarify that the score shown on the report is considered preliminary."

Reminder: The Hospice Timeliness Compliance Threshold Report displays provider identification information, number of HIS records submitted, number of HIS records submitted on time, and percentage of HIS records submitted on time (see Eli's HCW, Vol. XXV, No. 29). A link to a fact sheet about the reports is in the "Downloads" box at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Hospice-Item-Set-HIS.html.