During a special open door forum March 28, CMS and contractor RAND Corporation discussed their progress with standardized post-acute data elements being tested as a result of the IMPACT Act.
 
The IMPACT Act requires providers including home health agencies to report standardized patient assessment data and quality measure data to CMS. Because of the IMPACT Act, certain items are coming in OASIS-D in 2019. Others are expected in subsequent years.
 
CMS previously conducted alpha testing. National beta testing of data elements under the IMPACT Act is about to wrap up, and in the coming weeks participants will be surveyed about their experiences, officials said during the March 28 call.
 
Beta testing began in fall 2017 and is slated to wrap up in May.
 
Assessment data elements being tested are:
  • Cognitive status (For example, expression and understanding);
  • Mental status (For example, depressed mood);
  • Pain (For example, pain interference with sleep);
  • Impairments (For example, ability to see and continence);
  • Special services, treatments and interventions (For example, IV chemotherapy); and
  • Other categories (Care preferences, global health and medication reconciliation).
The beta testing includes 158 randomly selected post-acute facilities — including 47 home health agencies — from 14 areas, CMS officials said during the call. Those areas are: Boston; Chicago; Dallas; Durham, N.C.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Harrisburg, Pa.; Houston; Kansas City, Mo.; Los Angeles; Nashville, Tenn.; Philadelphia; Phoenix; St. Louis and San Diego.
 
The beta survey will occur in April, officials said during the forum.
 
CMS and RAND will ask beta assessors to explain their experiences and give opinions about the items — for example, was it burdensome, feasible and/or clinically relevant? Assessors also will be asked about patients’ experiences with data elements — for example, was burdensome and/or confusing?
 
Later there will be follow-up focus groups about top concerns identified through the survey.
 
CMS and RAND also will engage with post-acute associations and providers through conference presentations and one-on-one interviews.
In fall 2018, CMS and RAND will hold a mini-conference to discuss the findings of testing and stakeholder engagement activities. More details about the event aren’t yet available. 
 
Related links: View slides from the forum at https://go.cms.gov/2GT99W2. Agencies can submit comments or ideas to the CMS IMPACT Act mailbox at PACQualityInitiative@cms.hhs.gov.