CMS has launched the anticipated Hospice COMPARE website, aimed to give patients, family members, health care providers and others access to an initial set of seven quality measures for hospice programs across the Nation. CMS anticipates that Hospice COMPARE will not only help consumers make more informed decisions about where they seek care, but also encourage hospices to improve the quality of care that they provide.
The measures posted on Hospice COMPARE were approved for use by the National Quality Forum (NQF) and are drawn from Hospice Item Set (HIS) submissions. CMS has separated the measures into two categories for ease of review (Patient Preferences and Managing Pain and Treating Symptoms). Below is a list of the measures, along with the national rating against which a hospice is compared:
Patient Preferences
- Patient Treatment Preferences (NQF measure #1641) –National rate 98.3%
- Addressed Patient Beliefs and Values (NQF measure #1647) – National rate 93.6%
Managing Pain and Treating Symptoms
- Screening for Pain (NQF measure #1634) – National rate 93.9%
- Assessment of Patients Screening Positive for Pain (NQF measure #1637) – National rate 77.7%
- Screening for Dyspnea (NQF measure #1639) – National rate 97.3%
- Treating Patients Screening Positive for Dyspnea (NQF measure #1638) – National rate 94.6%
- Patients Treated with Opioids Given a Bowel Regimen (NQF measure #1617) – National rate 93.3%
The public can search for hospice information by name or location, as well as compare multiple agencies based on their scores and against the national rates.
Concurrent with the launch of COMPARE, CMS also updated multiple datasets, including Hospice General Information, Hospice National Data, Hospice Provider-specific Data, Hospice CASPER/ASPEN Contacts, and National CAHPS Hospice Survey data.
If a hospice provider determines some information specific to their agency is incorrect, CMS has recommended that hospices initially contact their assigned CASPER/ASPEN contact to address any discrepancies. Hospices are also reminded that changes in provider enrollment information must be reported timely to Provider Enrollment and the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC). Additional information is available here.