Home Health & Hospice Week

The OASIS C data set is a drastic change from the OASIS B-1, but that doesn't mean your ability to measure outcomes or make comparisons will suffer.

Some of the OASIS measures will be the same, some will be deleted, and others will be added, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said in response to a National Association for Home Care & Hospice question about how agencies will measure their outcomes using the new tool.

Reality: The changes between OASIS B-1 and OASIS C mean CMS will need to produce new reports based on data from OASIS C, once enough data is available, the agency said.

New way: CMS plans to use three sets of reports under OASIS C.

1) Process measure reports -- which do not require risk adjustment -- will present measures based on the new process of care items on OASIS C. The first CASPER reports presenting data on all the process measures will be based on the data from January 2010 through June 2010.

2) Risk-adjusted outcomes reports will present outcome measures based on the OASIS C items and will be risk adjusted using new models developed using the OASIS C items. The first preview report of risk-adjusted OASIS C outcomes will be based on data from January 2010 through December 2010.

3) Potentially avoidable events reports (formerly adverse events) will present data on adverse events, based on OASIS C. CMS has not yet decided whether to develop risk-adjustment models for these measures.

Heads up: Although in-depth descriptions for each of these revised quality measures is unavailable, CMS plans to post them to its Web site soon. You'll also get a detailed look at drafts of revised report formats and other information crucial to ensuring you understand what your outcomes data means.