Eli's Hospice Insider

If you’re still a little fuzzy on the new hospice quality measures, a new question-and-answer set may help clarify matters.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services “has finalized two new claims-based measures as part of the Hospice QRP: Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life (HVLDL) and Hospice Care Index (HCI),” CMS reviews in a message to providers. “Please find frequently asked questions on calculating and reporting claims-based measures in the Downloads section” at www.cms.gov/files/document/questionsandanswersclaims-basedmeasuresoctober2021.pdf.

For example: “For a given Care Compare refresh, CMS will calculate claims-based measures using data that are pulled at least 90 days after the last discharge date in the reporting period,” CMS says in the Q&As.” For instance, if the last discharge date in the two-year reporting period is Dec. 31, 2022, for data collected from Jan. 1, 2021 through Dec. 31, 2022, “CMS would create the data extract on approximately March 31, 2023, at the earliest. The time between December 31, 2022 and March 31, 2023 is called the ‘90-day run-off period,” the agency details.

You can also download an updated version of the HQRP Quality Measure Specifications User’s Manual and updated Current Measures document that include the new measures.

“These documents detail the four HQRP measures that meet the HQRP requirements” — the HIS Comprehensive Assessment at Admission (NQF# 3235); the HVLDL; the HCI; and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) Hospice Survey, CMS notes.

Find them in the “Downloads” section at www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Current-Measures.