Posted on Friday, March 3, 2017 1:14 PM
CMS recently provided a presentation that included slides with plans for the federal Medicare agency to include the seven current process measures from the Hospice Item Set (HIS) and eight Hospice CAHPS survey measures within a new Hospice Compare website. As of April 1, the two new measures will be added to HIS.
CMS says those measures won’t be included when Hospice Compare launches. CMS will take time to test those measures before adding them.
Since information about the data for Hospice Compare website has been released, hospices need to prepare by making sure their data is accurate and taking the right steps to improve scores on the 15 measures.
It’s crucial for hospices to perform well on these measures since everyone will have access to use Hospice Compare. This website will allow people to see how well hospices care for patients and the patient caregivers overall experience with hospice care.
Eventually, Hospice Compare will provide quality rating system.
According to CMS, the start rating system will be announced in future rulemaking. However, industry experts predict it will take more than a year for the implementation of the Compare site.
In addition, CMS released data for the HIS and CAHPS survey on this website.
The HIS data set includes the national averages (mean) for quality measure scores of Medicare-certified hospices calculated from the HIS from July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016.
To prepare for Hospice Compare, take the following steps:
• Validate accuracy of your information on the hospice data directory
• Confirm CMS is receiving your HIS and CAHPS survey submissions
• Benchmark your HIS and CAHPS survey scores against national data
• Classify opportunities for improvement
• Share information with staff and consumers
According to the national data, hospices have the greatest opportunity for improvement in the percentage of how patients receive pain assessments.
For the full article, please see the March 6, 2017 Home Health Line Edition.
About Corridor
Corridor is the nation’s preferred partner and trusted business advisor to home health and hospice providers, providing quality services and impactful results for 30 years. Focusing on key operational, regulatory and financial challenges, Corridor delivering industry-unique solutions and deep expertise in coding, clinical documentation review, compliance, billing and collections , consulting and provider staff education . At Corridor, we make the business of caring for people Better! For the most important industry updates and news that impacts home health and hospice, please make sure to sign up for our weekly newsletter to receive the latest up-to-date industry information direct to your inbox!
For additional information, please contact Corridor at 1-866-263-3795.
