Hospice HOPE Tool, CAHPS Revisions: Where CMS Is Going Next on Quality

Language in the 2024 proposed rule for the Medicare hospice program gives some indication of where the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is heading when it comes to quality measurement requirements. While the proposal did not introduce any new measures or rules, it did offer clues to changes that could show up […]

How Hospice Quality Reporting Can Impact Recruitment, Retention

Quality data are becoming another arrow in the quiver for hospices seeking to improve retention and recruitment. A hospice’s publicly reported quality data can paint a picture of how an organization stands up against competitors for future and current staff. Quality scores also can serve as a baseline for educating staff on how their roles […]

Value-Based Care: What Hospices Can Learn from Home Health Companies

When it comes to value-based payment models, home health has a head start on hospice. But those providers’ experiences can lend some insights into how hospices can prepare themselves. Hospices are only now taking their first steps into value-based reimbursement. To date, much of this has centered around diversified programs like palliative care, PACE and […]

Interim Healthcare CEO Jennifer Sheets: CMS, OIG Should Want Longer Hospice Stays

When Interim HealthCare and Caring Brands International CEO Jennifer Sheets speaks about hospice length of stay, it “strikes a nerve.” A disconnect exists between the ways providers perceive hospice lengths of stay and the views of regulators. Generally, providers point out the research showing that stays of six months or longer correlate with improved patient […]

[UPDATED] Citing Competition and Consumer-Protection Concerns, CMS Makes Hospice-Ownership Data Publicly Available

In what the agency is calling an effort to promote industry competition and protect consumers, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is making hospice-ownership data publicly available. HHS is also releasing ownership data for all Medicare-certified home health agencies, the department specified in a Thursday announcement. Federal health care officials had already […]

CMS to Allow Concurrent Hospice Care During VBID Extension

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will allow hospice patients to receive concurrent care through the Medicare Advantage hospice carve-in, and will permit health plans to further restrict utilization of out-of-network providers. Originally slated to complete in 2024, CMS recently extended the carve-in, formally known as the hospice component of the value-based […]

CMS Proposes 2.8% Payment Update for Hospices in 2024

The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) late Friday released the 2024 proposed payment rule for hospice providers. In it, CMS proposed to update hospice payments by 2.8%, which includes a market-basket percentage increase of 3% and a 0.2 percentage point productivity adjustment. The increase would translate to an estimated $720 million swell […]

Why CMS Extended VBID, MA Hospice Carve-In

Three main factors drove the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) decision to extend the value-based insurance design (VBID) model through 2030: patients’ social needs, health equity and improved care coordination. Originally set to run between 2021 and 2024, CMS indicated yesterday that it would invest five additional years in the demonstration. This […]