Agencies will soon have to submit quality data to CMS in a standardized fashion with other post-acute care providers as mandated by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014.
 
During a Feb. 25 open door forum, CMS provided an overview of standardized data to be collected — starting no later than Jan. 1, 2019 — concerning quality measures and standardized assessment domains required under the act. The data will be publicly reported starting no later than two years after application of the act begins, the act says.
 
Data categories to be covered in all post-acute care settings are: Functional status; cognitive function and mental status; special services, treatments and interventions; medical conditions and co-morbidities; impairments; and other categories.
 
Rehospitalization during the first 30 days of home health is also being considered, as is the total estimated Medicare spending per beneficiary.