Tag: CAHPS

Hospice Star Rating, Updated HCI Provider Preview Reports, and HQRP Tip Sheets

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) webinar on the CAHPS hospice star rating on December 16, 2021 revealed additional detail about the rating, which will be publicly reported on Care Compare beginning in August 2022. CMS is calling this star rating the “Family Caregiver Survey Rating Summary Star” and it will range from…

Important Deadlines for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program

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.

Important Deadlines for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program

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.

Important Deadlines for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program

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…

CMS Open Door Forum Shares Hospice Star Rating Info

During the most recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Home Health, Hospice, and DME (Durable Medicare Equipment) Open Door Forum (ODF), the following information and updates were provided.

Hospice providers should note that CMS has resumed the provider enrollment revalidation process along with some other provider enrollment processes that were temporarily suspended during a portion of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency.  See previous NAHC Report coverage here and the September 2, 2021 MLN Connects newsletter.

UPDATES

Hospices will see the resumption of public reporting of quality data with the February 2022 Care Compare refresh.  Provider preview reports for this refresh can now be accessed via the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER) application. These reports preview data that will be displayed in the Care Compare website in February 2022. The Hospice Item Set (HIS) measure scores are based on fewer than the standard number of quarters due to data exemptions in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey measure scores exclude Quarter 1 and Quarter 2 of calendar year 2020 (but still include eight quarters).

The Provider Preview Reports remain in CASPER for 60 days only so hospices are encouraged to save a copy of their preview reports for later reference.

Learn more about HIS Provider Preview Reports here and about the CAHPS Preview Reports here. Hospice QRP Key Dates for Providers can be found here.

CMS notified hospices that the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey Star Rating will be available to the public on Care Compare in August 2022.  (See previous NAHC Report coverage here). Hospices will first see their star ratings on the preview reports for February this month (November 2021) and also available in the May 2022 provider preview reports. CMS is considering this the “dry run” period.  The star rating will not be publicly reported during this period.

Hospices will see the star rating for each of the eight CAHPS measures in the preview reports but only the summary star will appear on Care Compare.  CAHPS Hospice Survey Provider Preview Reports include both quality measure scores and Star Ratings. Again, CAHPS Hospice Survey Star Ratings will not be publicly reported until August 2022.

CMS shared that it is planning an upcoming HQRP Forum which will include CAHPS information.

  • Thursday, December 16, 2021
  • 2:30 PM – 3:30 PM Eastern

Hospices should mark this on their calendars and stay tuned to NAHC Report for more information. We will provide an update when CMS releases registration information.

Hospices had questions about the CAHPS Star Rating including, in particular, the methodology for calculating the star rating. A CMS slide deck providing an overview of the star rating inclusive of the methodology is available here. Additional information pertaining to the star rating is available here.

Resources for the HQRP and CAHPS Hospice Survey Star Rating are available on the HQRP webpage and the CAHPS Hospice Survey webpage.

In other HQRP news, CMS responded to a question about the timing of the transition to the iQIES system stating that this transition is not scheduled to occur in 2022.

CMS Open Door Forum Shares Hospice Star Rating Info & Updates Home Health Notice of Admission

During the most recent Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Home Health, Hospice, and DME (Durable Medicare Equipment) Open Door Forum (ODF), the following information and updates were provided. Both home health and hospice providers should note that CMS has resumed the provider enrollment revalidation process along with some other provider enrollment processes that…

Star Rating Coming for Hospices and Other CAHPS Updates

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the addition of a CAHPS hospice survey star rating for the hospice quality reporting program in the FY2022 hospice final rule, and the star rating will be publicly reported on Care Compare in August 2022. CMS is calling this star rating the “Family Caregiver Survey Rating Summary star” and…

2021 CAHPS Hospice Survey Training Registration Now Open

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will offer Introduction to the CAHPS Hospice Survey the week of September 20, 2021 and CAHPS Hospice Survey Update Training on September 30, 2021. These training sessions are intended for hospices, survey vendors that participate in the CAHPS Hospice Survey, as well as other interested individuals and organizations. Please…

CMS FY2022 Hospice Payment Rule Proposes Big Quality Reporting Program Changes

Rebasing/Revision of Labor Shares for Payments Don’t miss the NAHC webinar on the FY2022 Hospice Payment Rule! REGISTER NOW! To read NAHC analysis of the revised Home Health QRP Display Schedule GO HERE: The Home Health Quality Reporting Program Part of the FY2022 Hospice Payment Rule Due to the importance of the FY2022 Hospice Payment Rule…

CMS Plans 2021 Pilot Test of Shorter, Refined Hospice CAHPS Survey

Since implementation of the Hospice Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) survey in 2015, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and other hospice stakeholders have submitted recommendations for improvements to the survey, including suggestions that the survey be shortened and that certain questions be modified to eliminate the potential for…