CMS Open Door Forums and News for Home Health and Hospice

Home Health, Hospice & DME Open Door Forum

The next Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Home Health, Hospice & Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Open Door Forum (ODF) will be held on Wed., Feb. 28, 2018 from 2 to 3 pm ET.

Hospice Agenda Items:

Update on electronic submission of hospice Notices of Election
Hospice Upcoming Training and Education Events
HIS Modifications After Preview Reports

Home Health Agenda Items:

Claims Adjustments for 2018 Home Health Rural Add-on Payments
Posting of Materials from Abt Associates’ Home Health Technical Expert Panel Meeting held on Feb. 1, 2018 (link here)
Clarification in calculation of the cross-setting measure Percent of Residents or Patients with Pressure Ulcers that are New or Worsened
Changes to the on-demand CASPER reports
Changes to the calculation algorithm for “Timely Initiation of Care” to align with the new CoP
Update for HHCAHPS

Special Open Door Forum: Home Health Templates and Clinical Data Elements (CDEs)

PCG will host a Special Open Door Forum (SODF) on Thurs., March 1, 2018 from 3 to 4 pm ET to allow physicians, provider and supplier professional associations, and/or all other interested parties to provide feedback on the Home Health Templates and CDEs that are posted on the CMS website. The printable clinical templates and suggested CDEs describe the data elements that CMS believes would be useful in supporting the documentation requirements for coverage of Home Health Services as follows:

Plan of Care & Certification, and
Face-to-Face Encounter.

CMS Launches Public Reporting of CAHPS® Hospice Survey Results

Last week, CMS announced the initial publication of results from the CAHPS® Hospice Survey on Hospice Compare. Hospice Compare is a user-friendly web tool that can be accessed here. It provides information to help patients, their families, caregivers, and providers make more informed decisions about choosing a hospice. Hospice Compare allows users to select up to three hospices at a time to compare the clinical quality of care provided and patient experiences with these hospices.

Hospice Compare Quarterly Refresh Available

The February 2017 quarterly Hospice Compare refresh based on patient stays discharged for Q2 2016 – Q1 2017 is now available. Visit Hospice Compare to view the data.

Contact: Meg Carr Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871