Industry leaders are asking CMS to rethink its methodology in the Hospice Special Focus Program, according to a joint letter to CMS signed by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, the National Partnership for Healthcare and Hospice Innovation and LeadingAge.
The groups note that they support efforts to subject poor-performing hospices to increased oversight to ensure they’re meeting Medicare requirements, but noted that the SFP as proposed may “result in hospices that take care of large numbers of patients being disproportionately and unfairly categorized as poor-performers merely as a result of their size.”
The organizations are asking that CMS work to improve the SFP algorithm prior to its application to hospices and implement a preview year where all providers are given preview reports of their performance ranking under the algorithm metrics.
“This may require a delay in implementation and that CMS issue a new proposed rule with the modified algorithm to give stakeholders the opportunity to comment,” they write. “This would help providers understand the algorithm and where they need to target improvements to ensure high-quality care. It would also provide more time to refine the algorithm to be sure the program is capturing an appropriate subset of hospices.”