OASIS Alert

New CMS Tally template tool now required.

At last individual branches can't blame the others for their agency's OASIS outcomes.

Instead of being shown only one outcome-based quality improvement (OBQI) or outcome-based quality monitoring (OBQM) report for your entire agency, you can now pull the reports by branch, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced in January.

New way: When you request branch information, reports will display for the agency as a whole, for patients served by the parent agency, and for patients served by a branch, according to the QIES Technical Support Web site.

Branch Data Promotes Accountability

With branch office reporting, you'll see the differences in each outcome by branch, rather than having them all bundled into one report for the entire service area, explains Judy Adams, clinical consultant with Charlotte, NC-based LarsonAllen Health Care. This allows an agency to compare itself more accurately to other competitors in the area, she tells Eli.

The individual branch can now monitor its own outcomes and won't be able to avoid responsibility for problems within its branch, she says. "Every branch office needs to look at its own data and determine what it can do to improve both outcomes and the bottom line," Adams says.

Bonus: Use branch reports to plan teaching activities that are more meaningful to that branch, Adams suggests. Remember, the better each part becomes, the better the total agency scores will be, she adds.

How To Use Branch Data

Share your branch data with branch supervisors and staff, says JoAnna McGeoghegan, who oversees quality improvement for Washington-based Assured Home Health and Hospice. Knowing where the branch is doing well on outcomes will promote more pride and ownership within the staff and will be a positive force, she predicts. And for problem outcomes, you'll be able to pinpoint educational needs specific to that branch but not needed by the whole agency, she tells Eli.

Don't Get Confused With New Reports

When you're looking at the new branch reports, be aware of the following factors:

1. Reports may not match. The report for all branches may include episodes not reported in any specific branch report, CMS warns. An episode is included in the report for a specific branch only if the branch number in M0016 is the same in both the start of care and end of care assessments.

2. Only some "National Reference" rates will be identical. National reference numbers on the OBQI descriptive outcome report are the "actual national rates" and will be the same on both branch and parent reports, CMS instructs. But national reference rates on the risk-adjusted outcome reports may be different for each branch and for the parent. That's because they are driven by the predicted outcome rates for each branch's patients, CMS explains.

3. Expect changes in Tally reports. Now you can filter Tally reports by branch to better understand case mix factors, CMS notes. Two new columns will show up on the Tally Case Mix and Tally Outcome reports. One column will contain the branch ID from the start of care assessment and one will contain the branch ID from the end of care assessment.

4. Download new Tally tool. Because of new branch ID information on the Tally reports, agencies must download a new version of CMS' Tally template tool.

Note: For complete information and instructions on branch reports go to www.qtso.com, click "OK" on the warning and then click on "OASIS" in the left column.