Hospice providers will be facing new star ratings on Care Compare, according to FY 2022 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate final rule released by CMS on July 29, 2021.
 
The star ratings will be calculated based on the results of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers System (CAHPS) Hospice Survey.
 
The rule includes a 2% rate increase in FY 2022, adjusted from 2.3% that was projected in the proposed rule. There’s also an updated cap amount for FY 2022 of $31,297.61.
 
The rule also introduces the Hospice Care Index, a new claims-based measure in the Hospice Quality Reporting Program that will be based on 10 indicators focused on the timing and length of visits, early and late discharges, burdensome transitions and per-beneficiary spending.
 
The rule also introduces the claims-based measure Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life. Both of the new measures will be publicly reported no earlier than May 2022.
 
For home health agencies, the rule includes changes to Home Health Quality Reporting Program. Frozen since October 2020 due to the pandemic, publicly reported data in the first update in January 2022 will exclude data from the first six months of 2020. For example, OASIS-based quality measures will represent data from the last six months of 2020 and the first three months of 2021.
 
 
We'll have more coverage on the final rule in upcoming issues of Home Health Line.