Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Hospice care is for terminally ill patients who decide to forgo curative treatment and instead receive palliative care. To be eligible, a patient must be certified as having a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less if the illness runs its normal…… Continue reading What Problems has OIG Identified with the Hospice Program?

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Swingtech sends informational messages to hospices related to the Quality Reporting Program (QRP) on a quarterly basis. Their latest outreach communication can be found on the HQRP Requirements and Best Practices web page. If you want to receive Swingtech’s quarterly emails, then add or update the…… Continue reading Important Updates on the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP)

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The February 2023 quarterly refresh for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program is now available on Care Compare. For additional information, please see the FY2023 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule at https://www.cms.gov/Center/Provider-Type/Hospice-Center. Please visit the Hospice Background and Announcements webpage to review the Claims-Based Measures Questions and Answers downloadable (PDF) for more…… Continue reading Hospice Care Compare Quarterly Refresh – February 2023

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Providers can now access the latest Provider Preview Reports via the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER) application. Once released in CASPER, providers will have 30 days during which to review their quality measure results.  Although the actual “preview period” is 30 days, the reports…… Continue reading Hospice Preview Reports for the May 2023 Refresh Now Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On January 27, 2023, I blogged about the Revisions to Hospice-Appendix M of the State Operations Manual and the Hospice Basic Surveyor Training. Late in the afternoon of February 2, 2023, CMS posted Transmittal 210 … Revisions to the State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix M – Hospice(192…… Continue reading Revisions to Appendix M – Hospice State Operations Manual (SOM)     

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Today, January 17, 2023, CMS posted QSO-23-08-HOSPICE with the same title as this blog. This Memorandum is 196 pages in length, with the actual revised Appendix M starting on page 25.  There are 3 Attachments with Attachment III being the Transmittal – Advanced Copy: There’s a…… Continue reading Revisions to Hospice-Appendix M of the State Operations Manual and the Hospice Basic Surveyor Training

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Hospice Quarterly Update for the fourth quarter of 2022 is now available. This update includes Hospice Quality Reporting Program highlights from October to December 2022, events and engagement opportunities for the first quarter of 2023 (January – March 2023), and selected questions and answers from…… Continue reading HQRP Quarterly Update for 4th Quarter 2022 Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare “GAO’s review of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requirements for reporting and responding to abuse and neglect allegations found two gaps in the requirements for hospices, compared with requirements for extended care provided in hospitals and nursing homes. Hospices, which can provide care in…… Continue reading Abuse and Neglect: CMS Should Strengthen Reporting Requirements to Better Protect Individuals Receiving Hospice Care

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted a 90-page Transmittal 11776 – Change Request 13040 on January 5, 2023.

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Swingtech sends informational messages to hospices related to the Quality Reporting Program (QRP) on a quarterly basis. Their latest outreach communication can be found on the HQRP Requirements and Best Practices webpage. The direct link to this message is here. If you want to receive Swingtech’s…… Continue reading Important Updates on the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP)