Final HOPE Tool Materials for Hospice Released
(Sept. 17, 2024) On Sept. 16th, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) final materials. Materials include the HOPE Guidance Manual v1.00, the Item Sets (HIS) (HOPE Admission v1.00, HOPE Update Visit (HUV) v1.00, HOPE Discharge v1.00, and HOPE ALL Item v1.00), and the HIS to HOPE v1.00 Change Table.
All of these documents can be accessed from the Downloads section on the CMS Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) webpage here. LeadingAge National will evaluate the materials and write up an article for members in the coming days. LeadingAge National is also hosting sessions on HOPE at its upcoming Annual Meeting; find out more here.
CMS developed the new patient assessment tool to replace the HIS as part of the HQRP. HOPE was finalized in the Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule (CMS-1810-F).
According to CMS, HOPE will provide assessment-based quality data to enhance the HQRP through standardized data collection, provide a better understanding of patient care needs, contribute to the patient’s plan of care, and provide additional clinical data that could inform future payment refinements. CMS retained key items from the HIS in HOPE v1.0 and will continue to collect information to inform the Comprehensive Assessment at Admission (CBE #3235) while gathering additional data to support new quality measures.
HOPE data collection will be required for the HQRP beginning on Oct. 1, 2025 (FY 2026). To learn more about HOPE, click here.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871