December 31, 2021 is an important date for the hospice quality reporting program (HQRP). This is the last day of the calendar year (CY) 2021 participation requirements for the CAHPS Hospice Survey and the Hospice Information Set (HIS). Hospices must meet the participation requirements for this year as laid out below or face the two percent annual payment update penalty in payment year 2023.
| Annual Payment Update | HIS | CAHPS |
| FY2023 | Submit at least 90 percent of all HIS records within 30 days of the event date (patient’s admission or discharge) for patient admissions/discharges occurring 1/1/21 – 12/31/21. | Ongoing monthly participation in the Hospice CAHPS survey 1/1/2021 – 12/31/2021**Unless exempt |
| FY2024 | Submit at least 90 percent of all HIS records within 30 days of the event date (patient’s admission or discharge) for patient admissions/discharges occurring 1/1/22 – 12/31/22. | Ongoing monthly participation in the Hospice CAHPS survey 1/1/2022 – 12/31/2022 |
A hospice is exempt from the CAHPS Hospice Survey requirements for CY2021 if it has served fewer than 50 survey-eligible decedents/caregivers in CY 2020 (January 1, 2020 through December 31, 2020 [or from assignment of CCN]). These hospices must apply for the exemption and must do so annually if eligible for different years. The Participation Exemption for Size Form for the calendar year CY2021 CAHPS Hospice Survey data collection and reporting requirements is available to complete and submit here. Eligible hospices must complete and submit this from no later than December 31, 2021 in order to receive the exemption.
January 1, 2022 begins the CY2022 participation requirements for the HQRP that impacts the 2024 payment year. The penalty for not meeting the HQRP participation requirements during CY2022 jumps to 4%, which is applied in the FY 2024 payment update. Therefore, hospices are strongly encouraged to ensure that they are meeting the submission requirements as shown in the table above beginning January 1, 2022 in order to avoid this increased penalty. Hospices should review their Timeliness Compliance Threshold Report now to ensure they meet the 90% HIS submission requirement and check the CAHPS Hospice Survey Data Warehouse to ensure their CAHPS vendor is submitting data as required.
The Timeliness Compliance Threshold Report is one of the reports in a hospice’s CASPER folder. See the CASPER Hospice Reporting User’s Guide for information on accessing this report. For your hospice to access and review the data submitted by your survey vendor, a login to the CAHPS Hospice Survey Data Warehouse (https://kiteworks.rand.org) is required.