Home Health & Hospice Week

Plus: 5-star ratings will hit the public reporting site sooner rather than later.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is sticking to its Hospice Compare deadline for a launch, but hospices will have a little bit longer for their patient satisfaction measures to display publicly.

Hospice Compare with the seven Hospice Item Set-based quality measures will debut in summer, CMS confirms in its 2018 proposed rule on hospice payment. But CAHPS measures won’t display on the site until winter 2018.

The seven HIS items that will post this summer are:

• NQF #1641 Treatment Preferences
• NQF #1647 Beliefs/Values
• NQF #1634 Pain Screening
• NQF #1637 Pain Assessment
• NQF #1639 Dyspnea Screening
• NQF #1638 Dyspnea Treatment
• NQF #1617 Bowel Regimen.

The 8 CAHPS measures that will post next year are:

• Rating of Hospice (MUC ID: MUC16–31)
• Hospice Team Communications (MUC16 –32)
• Willingness to Recommend (MUC16– 33)
• Getting Hospice Care Training (MUC16 –35)
• Getting Timely Care (MUC16–36)
• Getting Emotional and Religious Support (MUC16 –37)
• Getting Help for Symptoms (MUC16–39)
• Treating Family Member with Respect (MUC16 –40).

“We propose that CAHPS Hospice Survey scores for a given hospice be displayed as ‘top-box’ scores, with the national average top-box score for participating hospices provided for comparison,”

CMS says in the rule. “Top-box scores reflect the proportion of caregiver respondents that endorse the most positive response(s) to a given measure, such as the proportion that rate the hospice a 9 or 10 out of 10 on a 0 to 10 scale, or the proportion that report that they ‘always’ received timely care.”

“Hospice CAHPS® is important for the hospice community because the results of the survey will allow comparisons among hospices nationally,” CMS says in its fact sheet about the rule. “Once it is publicly reported, CMS believes the data will help beneficiaries and their families to select a hospice program. CMS also believes public reporting of survey results will encourage hospices to improve quality.”

Do this: “CMS has given the hospice community several opportunities for review and preparation,” notes Judi Lund Person with the National Hospice & Palliative Care Organization. “Hospices should take full advantage before Hospice Compare launches.” Preview reports will come out this summer, CMS says in the rule.

Prepare To See Stars

A five-star rating system, like Medicare uses for other Compare sites, is also on deck, CMS confirms in the rule. “The Hospice Compare Web site will, in time, feature a quality rating system that gives each hospice a rating of between 1 and 5 stars,” CMS says. “Public comments regarding how the rating system would determine a hospice’s star rating and the methods used for calculations, as well as a proposed timeline for implementation will be announced” via CMS’s usual website and email channels.

TBD: “We will announce the timeline for development and implementation of the star rating system in future rulemaking,” CMS says.