Posted on Friday, December 2, 2016 2:15 PM
A report, expected to be released mid-to-late December, will provide hospices a first look at CMS’ calculated patient-level data.
Currently, hospices don’t have enough feedback from CMS on the HIS. However, this report will give providers — especially those that aren’t working with a benchmarking
vendor — detail on where they may have room for improvement, says Katie Wehri, hospice operations expert for the National Association for Home Care & Hospice.
One of the many issues during the November 16 home health, hospice and durable equipment open door forum was the quality measures report. During the forum, CMS also discussed the 2017 PPS final rule for home health providers and whether they’re accession their Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER).
Additionally, hospices received an update on Public Use Files (PUF). The PUF is scheduled for late December and will be posted on data.medicare.gov.
It’s not provider-level data, but it is an opportunity to view how states compare on a national level, CMS says. Data from the PUF will give hospices a sense of areas they should work on to improve for Hospice Compare, Wehri says.
Once the QM report and PUF are available, CMS will provide notification here.
During the forum, CMS also announced that the hospice regional office and state coordinator list has been updated here.
The following was also discussed at CMS’ open door forum:
• Pick your PEPPER
• Mark your calendars for the next open door forum on January 11
• The next update of Home Health Compare is expected January 25
For the full article, please see the December 5, 2016 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.
