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. If you want to receive Swingtech’s quarterly emails, then add or update the email…… Continue reading Important Updates on the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP)

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Acumen, LLC and Abt Associates Inc. (hereafter referred to as Acumen and Abt) support CMS in the development and maintenance of quality measures for the Post-Acute Care (PAC) and Hospice Quality Reporting Programs (QRPs). The PAC and Hospice QRPs aim to characterize provider performance across various…… Continue reading Standing Technical Expert Panel (TEP) for the Development, Evaluation, and Maintenance of Post-Acute Care (PAC) and Hospice Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Measurement Sets

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The August 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 Care Compare Quarterly Refresh (Hospice) – August 2023

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Effective oversight and enforcement are important to protect the integrity of the Medicare program, especially for vulnerable, seriously ill individuals and their families. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has an important role to play in ensuring that hospices are providing necessary and critical,…… Continue reading CMS is Taking Action to Address Benefit Integrity Issues Related to Hospice Care

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 November 2023 Refresh Now Available in QIES

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Yesterday (July 31, 2023), I posted a blog on the FY2024 Final Rule for Hospice Payment.  There’s a CMS Fact Sheet that you should also review along with the actual FR.  This fact sheet discusses the major provisions of the final rule, including the annual update to…… Continue reading Final Rule FY2024 Hospice Payment Rate Update – CMS Fact Sheet

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On July 28, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (CMS-1787-F) that provides updates to the fiscal year (FY) 2024 Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). This rule includes updates on HOPE, future quality measures, , and provides updates to the…… Continue reading Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements, and Hospice Certifying Physician Provider Enrollment Requirements Proposed Rule (CMS-1787-F)

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare “Last week, regulators rolled out enhanced oversight for new hospices in Arizona, California, Nevada and Texas. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which pays for most of American hospice care, announced that this change was spurred by “numerous reports of hospice fraud, waste, and abuse” and “serious…… Continue reading Hospices in Four States to Receive Extra Scrutiny Over Concerns of Fraud, Waste and Abuse

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Thursday afternoon, July 20, 2023, CMS issued Transmittal 12129 – 2022 Hospice Aggregate Cap Calculation. The purpose of this Change Request (CR) is to instruct the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) on how to calculate the 2022 hospice aggregate cap determination, taking into consideration the varying sequestration…… Continue reading 2022 Hospice Aggregate Cap Calculation

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS is placing newly enrolling hospices located in Arizona, California, Nevada, and Texas in a provisional period of enhanced oversight. Over the last 12 months, we’ve received numerous reports of hospice fraud, waste, and abuse. The number of enrolled hospices has also increased significantly in these…… Continue reading Period of Enhanced Oversight for New Hospices in Arizona, California, Nevada, & Texas