Home Health & Hospice Week

Have you checked out all of CMS’s instructions on filling out the Hospice Item Set?

CMS is lending a helping hand when it comes to Hospice Item Set preparation, so take advantage of the resources to help achieve compliance and avoid payment penalties. Consider this list of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services resources when planning your pre- and post-implementation activities:

• HIS forms. Find the Office of Management and Budget-approved HIS-Admission form at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-QualityReporting/Downloads/HIS_Admission_Final_4-8-2014.pdf and the HIS-Discharge form at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Downloads/HIS_Discharge_Final_4-8-2014.pdf.

• HIS Manual. CMS revised the HIS Manual June 4. Find the new version in a ZIP file — go to CMS’s main HIS site at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Hospice-Item-Set-HIS.html, scroll down to the “Downloads” box at the bottom of the page, and click on the “HIS Manual V1.01 and Change Table for V1.00.0 to V1.01.” Open the “HIS Manual V1.01” PDF file. There’s also a crosswalk document in the ZIP file.

• Fact sheets. A general fact sheet released earlier this year is at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Downloads/HIS-Fact-Sheet.pdf, and a recent fact sheet on HIS dates is at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Downloads/Fact-Sheet-–-HIS-Completion-Timing-Guidelines.pdf.

• Q&As. A seven-page, 13-question-and-answer document from April is at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Downloads/April-2014-Q_A-Document-FINAL.pdf.

• Training videos. Links to the CMS data collection training sessions are on the main HIS webpage at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Hospice-Item-Set-HIS.html — scroll down to the March 19 entry. CMS provides links to download the sessions or view them on youtube. A link to slides for the sessions are in the “Downloads” section at the bottom of the page.

• Technical information. You can access the WebEx modules on technical training at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/HIS-Technical-Information.html — scroll down to the May 7 entry. You can also read information about registering for your passwords at the same site under the May 21 entry. The finalized data specs are available in the “Downloads” section on the bottom of that page.

• Final rule. The final rule implementing HIS, published in the Aug. 7, 2013 Federal Register, is at www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-08-07/pdf/2013-18838.pdf. 

Note: You can obtain more information by purchasing the Eli-sponsored June 4 audio learning session, “The Future of the Hospice Quality Reporting Program” by Charlene Ross, which provides a HIS overview, at www.audioeducator.com/hospice/hospice-quality-reporting-program-06-04-14.html.