Hospices will begin using the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) collection instrument in Fiscal Year 2025, according to the FY 2025 Hospice Payment Rate Update proposed rule, released Thursday, March 28, 2024.
 
According to CMS, the HOPE instrument will collect data at multiple time points across the hospice stay, including admission, the HOPE Update Visit (HUV) and discharge.
 
This will replace the Hospice Item Set (HIS). “Compared to the HIS, which only collected data at hospice admission and discharge, HOPE will enable CMS to gather patient level data during their hospice stay to support quality measures,” according to CMS.
 
Hospices will see a payment increase in October, according to the proposed rule. The hospice payment update percentage for FY 2025 is 2.6%, or an estimated increase of $705 million, according to CMS. The proposed aggregate cap per patient would be $34,364.85, up from the FY 2024 cap of $33,491.01. These numbers often change slightly before the final rule is released this summer.
 
The proposed rule also looks to change the CAHPS Hospice Survey based on the results of a mode experiment in 2021. The changes proposed include: 
  • The addition of a web-mail mode (email invitation to a web survey, with mail follow-up to non-responders),
  • A shortened and simplified survey,
  • Modifications to survey administration protocols to include a prenotification letter and extended field period,
  • The addition of a new, two-item Care Preferences measure, 
  • Revisions to the existing Hospice Team Communication measure and the existing Getting Hospice Care Training measure,
  • The removal of three nursing home items and additional survey items impacted by other proposed changes in this rule.
See upcoming issues of Home Health Line for more coverage of the proposed rule.
 
 
See the proposed rule at the Federal Register at https://public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2024-06921.pdf.