CMS released a Summary Report from the Hospice Quality Reported Program Technical Expert Panel (TEP). The report covers the conversations of the TEP a number of issues which will inform the development of the Hospice Outcome & Patient Evaluation tool (HOPE) which will eventually replace the current Hospice Item Set (HIS). The TEP spent time looking at timely reassessment of symptoms as important to prioritize when considering future HOPE process measures. The TEP did not feel like many process measures currently available provided meaningful indicators of quality except for medication management, though the TEP felt individuals in inpatients facilities should be excluded from that measure. The TEP also expressed reservations about the usefulness of data from deficiencies and complaint surveys to determine hospice quality. Variation in surveyor process, regional data, and inconsistencies in deficiency citations over time all gave the TEP pause on pursuing future HOPE based on surveys.
