CMS and their contractor, Abt Associates, are recruiting additional Medicare-certified hospice providers to participate in a beta test of the draft hospice patient assessment instrument called Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE). Recruitment is ongoing and training will occur on a rolling basis. Data collection begins when training is completed and is expected to continue through fall 2022. While any Medicare-certified hospice can participate, the tested does require certain staffing expectations which hospice members will need to consider before committing to testing.

  • Testing requires 1-2 joint visits per week between different disciplines
  • CMS anticipates hospices will need 6-8 registered nurses, 3-4 social workers, and 3-4 chaplains
  • For joint visits, two registered nurses visit one patient at the same time to complete the HOPE nurse assessment
  • Two social workers visit the patient at the same time to complete the HOPE social work assessment
  • Two chaplains visit the patient at the same time to complete the HOPE chaplain assessment
  • One of the two registered nurses, social workers and chaplains may attend their joint visit via video call, such as Zoom
  • HOPE assessments are completed at hospice admission, for symptom reassessment and at live discharge

Those interested in participating should email HOPETesting@abtassoc.com. The detailed recruitment announcement is available on CMS’s Hospice QRP Provider and Stakeholder Engagement webpage.

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Nicole Schings is the Director of Member Services and Business Development. She oversees the Partnership/Sponsorship program, recruitment and retention of the association’s provider and associate members as well as coordinating all aspects of online education. Nicole graduated from Washburn University and is a Platinum Geocacher. Her favorite thing about working at the association is to bring new partners in to help us better serve members. Along with her geocaching hobby, Nicole enjoys spending time with her dog, Blu. Her favorite part of working at LeadingAge Kansas is that the people are cool and she enjoys getting to know the members and helping them solve problems. You can reach Nicole directly at 785.670.8048.