Industry Insights

CMS has posted the quarterly Hospice Compare refresh of quality data on December 4, 2018. All quality measures showed improvement since the last quarterly posting! Pain assessment showed the most improvement, from 83.4% to 85.5%, followed by pain screening.

Updates to the family caregivers’ survey results showed seven measures remained the same.

CMS has added a new “Composite Process Measure” to Hospice Compare. As of this release, the national average is 83.6%.

Quality measure results are from data collected 1st quarter 2017 through 4th quarter 2017, and Hospice CAHPS® survey results reported 1st quarter 2016 through 4th quarter 2017.

View State Level Hospice Compare Charts

Last month we encouraged you to access the information that CMS has provided to learn the potential impact of the Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) on your agency.

Today, we’re pleased to introduce our simplified “look-up” of CMS’ Agency-Level Impacts, Estimated for CY 2019 information. You can search for agencies by CCN or by State and City. As a reminder, CMS created these estimates using 2019 payment rates when they were expecting the original “HHGM” model to go into effect in 2019 (using 2017 data). So, while not an actual projection for 2020, it is still a good way to get a rough estimate of what the impact could be.

We will continue to keep you up to date about this important change for our industry.

Access the PDGM Potential Impact Look Up Tool Here

On October 24, 2018, the President signed into law H.R. 6, the Substance Use-Disorder Prevention that Promotes Opioid Recovery and Treatment for Patients and Communities Act, also known as the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act. The Act includes a section which amends the Controlled Substances Act and allows a hospice employee to handle lawfully dispensed controlled substances of deceased hospice patients to assist with disposal of the controlled substances, so long as the disposal occurs onsite in accordance with applicable law. Prior to this amendment to the Controlled Substance Act, hospice personnel were only allowed to instruct family members in proper disposal of controlled substances and were prohibited from handling the substances and/or assisting in the disposal. The law specifies that the disposal occurs onsite, meaning at the place of death, and that it is in accordance with any state or local laws.

Hospice agencies may now revise their policies, procedures, and practices to reflect this change. Policies such as Disposal of Controlled Substances, Procedures at Time of Death, Documentation Requirements at Time of Death, and electronic medical record revisions to include details of items disposed are some examples to consider. Agencies should keep in mind that this law is specific for disposal of controlled substances at time of death and does not include disposal of discontinued controlled substances on live patients. Educating clinicians and implementing the revised practice changes as soon as possible will help decrease the opioid diversion and misuse across America.

The summary of H.R. 6, sponsored by Rep. Greg Walden of Oregon, can be found at https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/6. For details related to the hospice disposal, refer to Sec. 7062, Safe Disposal of Unused Medication Act.

Learn More about Hospice Policies and Procedures

The Home Health Compare results were updated on October 24, 2018.

For the Quality of Patient Care measures, 13 measures improved and 1 worsened. As with last quarter, improvement in bed transfer saw the most improvement of 1.4%. Improvement in management of oral medications improved by 1.2%. Depression assessment conducted worsened by 0.1%. (Data Collection January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017).

Acute care hospitalizations remained at 15.8%, while Urgent, unplanned care in the emergency room worsened, increasing from 12.9% to 13.0%. (Data Collection January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017).

The national average for the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating remained at 3.5 stars.

HHCAHPS measures also updated and the national averages remain the same. The data collection period for these measures and the Star Ratings is  April 1, 2017 – March 31, 2018.

To see where the 5 star agencies are located, visit our Home Health Compare page and use the drop down for Star Ratings at the agency level. You can also compare measures by state, by year, by release date, and the top 10 or top 20 percent.

Understanding the Rule and the Reasons Behind it

Presenter Catherine Dehlin explains the key components of the rule along with the data and reasons behind CMS’ thinking. Get the details and data on:

• Hospice Wage Index Updates
• Payment Rates
• Cap Amounts
• Physician Assistants
• Hospice Quality Reporting Program
• HEART
• Non-Hospice Covered Services – Part D Meds
• Portfolio Findings

Hospice providers are facing significant regulatory changes. Leaders need to understand the changes and the reasons behind them in order to successfully steer their organizations.
Continue reading “Complimentary Webinar: FY2019 Hospice Final Rule” →

The Home Health Compare results were updated on July 25, 2018.

For the Quality of Patient Care measures, 12 measures improved, 1 worsened, and 1 remained the same. As with last quarter, improvement in bed transfer saw the most improvement of 1.3%. Improvement in management of oral medications improved by 1.2%. Multifactor fall risk assessment conducted saw no change and Depression assessment conducted worsened by 0.1%. (Data Collection October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2017).

Acute care hospitalizations improved this quarter, from 15.9% to 15.8%, while Urgent, unplanned care in the emergency room remained at 12.9%. (Data Collection October 1, 2016 – September 30, 2017).

The national average for the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating remained at 3.5 stars. The percentage of agencies with 3 and 4.5 stars declined, and the percent of agencies with 2 and 5 stars increased.

HHCAHPS measures also updated and the national averages remain the same. The data collection period for these measures and the Star Ratings is January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2017.

To see where the 5 star agencies are located, visit our Home Health Compare page and use the drop down for Star Ratings at the agency level. You can also compare measures by state, by year, by release date, and the top 10 or top 20 percent.