Home Health & Hospice Week

Q3020: “What impact does OASIS-E have on the applicable measures in the expanded HHVBP Model?” the FAQ reads.

Answer: “Episodes for patients discharged to a non-institutional (home) hospice (M0100 Reason for assessment — RFA 9 Discharge from Agency) where M2420 Discharge Disposition is coded with Response 3 — Patient transferred to a non-institutional hospice, and with a M0906 Discharge/ Transfer/Death Date of 1/1/2023 or later are excluded from the calculation of the following OASIS-based quality measures in the expanded Model,” CMS explains:

• Discharged to Community
• Improvement in Dyspnea
• Improvement in Management of Oral Medications
• Total Normalized Composite (TNC) Change Mobility
• Total Normalized Composite (TNC) Change in Self-Care

“Additionally, for Discharged to Community, episodes for patients transferred to institutional hospice where M2410 is coded with Response 4 — Hospice and with a M0906 Discharge/Transfer/Death Date of 1/1/2023 or later are excluded in the HHVBP Model,” CMS adds.

“Except for patients discharged to institutional and noninstitutional hospice, the observed OASIS-based measure performance for the expanded HHVBP Model will be calculated the same way,” CMS points out.

The agency also tells agencies in another FAQ not to be surprised if their stats in their iQIES Review and Correct Reports and their VBP reports differ somewhat. “Differences may be due to risk adjustment, as the iQIES Review and Correct Reports use observed measure values and expanded Model performance reports use risk adjusted values,” CMS explains. “Other differences may be due to reporting periods and data availability,” the agency adds in new Q6017.

Plus: “Corrections made to OASIS assessments by an HHA based on information presented in the iQIES Review and Correct Reports or other reasons will be reflected in the data used in the expanded Model,” CMS tells agencies.

Medicare Set To Unveil New QI Tool

While digesting the new FAQs, don’t forget to tune in to Medicare’s latest VBP educational offering on March 30.

“This event will introduce a new quality improvement resource that HHAs can use to identify recommended best practices in home health care and prioritize performance improvement actions,” CMS says in its description of the livestream. “The self-assessment tool presented during this event can be used for evaluating the application of nine (9) recommended best practices in the areas of assessment, care planning, monitoring, patient engagement, and maintenance coverage,” according to the agency.

Register for the event, which will give attendees an opportunity to submit questions, at https://us06web.zoom.us/ webinar/register/WN_Bcl3AWXgQuuc-5HhIO7IsA.

And remember, HHAs have until the end of this month to give CMS feedback on how VBP education has been going so far. “We hope to learn more about your … experience with the resources provided for the expanded HHVBP Model and identify areas for future outreach and education,” CMS says in a message about the survey that runs through March 31.

Access the survey online at www.research.net/r/ expandedHHVBPModelsurvey. “Your input in this survey is vital and appreciated,” CMS tells agencies.

Note: The February newsletter, which includes a link to the expanded FAQs, is at https://innovation.cms.gov/media/ document/hhvbp-newsletter-feb2023.