Some of the industry’s leading advocates in Washington are asking CMS to delay its implementation of the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool.  
 
The request from LeadingAge, the National Alliance for Care at Home and the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation was part of a letter addressed to CMS administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz, released May 19. 
 
The HOPE tool, which will capture standardized data at key points throughout a patient’s hospice stay, is set to replace the Hospice Item Set (HIS) on Oct. 1, 2025. Agencies will also have to change how they submit quality reporting data around the same time, as CMS will require agencies to upload HOPE data to the internet Quality Improvement & Evaluation System (iQIES) instead of the legacy QIES system that providers are accustomed to. 
 
The advocacy groups voiced concern about CMS’ requirement that providers complete the same 90% submission threshold expected under HIS. Agencies and technology vendors are still waiting on key information and education for the tool and transition to iQIES that could limit their ability to start using the tool, they note. 
 
The letter authors ask that CMS waive its HOPE timeliness submission requirement until two calendar quarters after the tool’s implementation. “We further respectfully request that CMS delay the HOPE implementation date until at least six months after CMS education, training and final validation specifications are available and the application for iQIES access has been opened for hospices,” they add. 
 
Hospices will be vulnerable to adverse financial consequences if the transition to iQIES and HOPE is left unchanged, the officials note. 
 
 
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