HHS' Office of Inspector General (OIG) has added a new item to its work plan: "Protecting Medicare Hospice Beneficiaries From Harm."
 
The item was announced in November 2018 and a report is expected to be issued in 2019.
 
Wrote OIG about its plan: "The Medicare hospice program is an important benefit for beneficiaries and their families and caregivers at the end of a beneficiary's life. Surveys and complaint investigations are critical to oversight of the care hospices provide to beneficiaries. This study is a companion to Trends in Hospice Deficiencies and Complaints (OEI-02-17-00020), in which we determine the extent and nature of hospice deficiencies and complaints and identify trends. For this study, we will use the survey reports to provide more detail about poor-quality care that resulted in harm to beneficiaries. We will describe specific instances of harm to Medicare hospice beneficiaries and identify the vulnerabilities in Medicare's process for preventing and addressing harm."