- September 30, 2024
- Alerts
New Nationwide Patient Assessment Tool for Hospices
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed a new patient evaluation tool called Hospice Outcomes Patient Evaluation (HOPE) that will replace the current tool, Hospice Item Set (HIS). Hospices will be required to use HOPE for all patient admissions after October 1, 2025.
The transition from HIS to HOPE will include various changes aimed at helping hospices to better understand patient needs. While HIS requires the collection of patient data at admission and discharge from hospice, HOPE will expand patient data collection to occur at admission, two hospice update visits (HUV) (depending on the patient’s length of stay) and upon discharge. Data collection at additional time points during update visits will enable added plan of care updates to boost quality of care. Further, HOPE adds data elements to be collected that were not required under HIS, such as:
Collecting patient-specific data in “real-time” will help hospices to better understand the needs of their patients and to improve quality of care. CMS’s current quality measures, based on the standardized items contained in HOPE, can be found on CMS’s website. Additionally, providers can sign up to receive the latest updates on hospice quality reporting here.
Should you have any questions regarding the above, please contact the authors, the Garfunkel Wild attorney with whom you regularly work, or email us at info@garfunkelwild.com.
The transition from HIS to HOPE will include various changes aimed at helping hospices to better understand patient needs. While HIS requires the collection of patient data at admission and discharge from hospice, HOPE will expand patient data collection to occur at admission, two hospice update visits (HUV) (depending on the patient’s length of stay) and upon discharge. Data collection at additional time points during update visits will enable added plan of care updates to boost quality of care. Further, HOPE adds data elements to be collected that were not required under HIS, such as:
- identifying the patient’s living arrangements at the time of admission;
- patient’s availability of assistance from a willing and able caregiver at the time of admission;
- whether patient has a life expectancy of three days or less; and
- whether the patient has neuropathic pain at the time of admission.
Collecting patient-specific data in “real-time” will help hospices to better understand the needs of their patients and to improve quality of care. CMS’s current quality measures, based on the standardized items contained in HOPE, can be found on CMS’s website. Additionally, providers can sign up to receive the latest updates on hospice quality reporting here.
Should you have any questions regarding the above, please contact the authors, the Garfunkel Wild attorney with whom you regularly work, or email us at info@garfunkelwild.com.