Tag: hospice

Hospice Reporting Reminder- Deadline April 1st

The following is a noticed released by CMS last week reminding Hospice Providers of the April 1st deadline for submission of the hospice pain measures (NQF #0209). 

Hospice Quality Reporting Program: NQF #0209 Deadline April 1

Important Alert: The deadline to submit the NQF #0209 data is quickly approaching. Hospices that fail to submit and attest to their data will receive a 2 percentage point reduction in their Annual Payment Update (APU) for the FY 2014.

To comply with the Payment Year 2014 Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) requirements, providers should currently be entering their NQF #0209 data on the data entry and submission website. Providers that have not already created a data entry account should do so now.

The deadline for reporting NQF #0209 data for Payment Year 2014 is April 1, 2013. In order to avoid a 2 percentage point reduction in their Annual Payment Update (APU), providers must have submitted their structural measure data by January 31, 2013 and must submit their NQF #0209 data by April 1. Providers that may have missed the structural measure deadline can still visit the data entry website, create an account, and enter their NQF #0209 data. The link to the data entry site, along with a Technical User Guide giving step-by-step instructions on the data entry process, can be found on the Data Submission portion of the CMS HQRP website.

User Account Deactivation Requests for the HQRP

If you anticipate needing a deactivation request for your HQRP user account, please submit the user account deactivation request to the Technical Help Desk via fax at 888-477-7871 or email at help@QTSO.com prior to March 25, 2013. Any deactivation requests received on or after March 25 puts a hospice organization at risk for missing the NQF #0209 deadline, which is April 1. Please note: all data submitted by a user who is deactivated is permanently deleted.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

MOLST Technical Assistance Calls Planned for Certified Home Health Agencies

The Medical Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (MOLST) process and medical order form were developed to ensure that persons with advanced illness will have their decisions regarding life-sustaining treatments known, communicated and honored across Massachusetts.  Health care institutions throughout the Commonwealth are currently in various stages of implementing the use of MOLST with suitable patients.

In order to assist certified home health agencies to prepare for MOLST, the MOLST Team is scheduling technical assistance calls on the following dates:

  • February 25, from 1:00 – 2:00pm
  • March 18, from 12:00 – 1:00 pm

You may register for one of these calls by going to the MOLST website (www.MOLST-MA.org).  There you’ll also learn about the steps involved in MOLST implementation, and will find many tools for preparing your home care agency for the use of MOLST with patients.

The one-hour technical assistance conference call will provide participants with an opportunity to ask questions about MOLST, clarify concerns, and share with other callers whatever progress you’ve already made with MOLST implementation at your agency.

Registrants are strongly encouraged to review the MOLST Implementation Training available on line at http://www.molst-ma.org/molst-training-line and to download the Implementation Toolkit available at http://www.molst-ma.org/tool-kit-implementing-molst-institutions before participating in the conference call.

In order to have MOLST in place at your agency by the end of this year, now is the time to begin the implementation process.  Take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about MOLST, and register for an upcoming MOLST technical assistance call for certified home health agencies!

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

New Edits on Hospice Claims

Recently, CMS released Change Request (CR) 8142 – Hospice Monthly Billing Requirement, effective date of change- July 1, 2013. The CR instructs Medicare contractors to implement a system edit to return hospice claims to the provider when there is more than one hospice claim per month per beneficiary. The only exception to this requirement is in the case of the beneficiary being discharged or revoking the benefit and then later re-electing the benefit during the same month.

Medicare contractors will also implement a system edit when the provider submits claims that span more than one calendar month.  Any hospice claim spanning multiple months will be returned to the provider for correction.

This is not new policy but is a new enforcement.  After July 1, 2013 claims not in compliance with the monthly billing requirement will be returned to providers.  A corresponding MedLearn Matters article is expected to be posted in the near future.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org

.

January 31- Deadline for Submission of Structural Measure Data for Hospice

Reminder:   The deadline for attestation and submission of structural measure data for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) is Thursday, January 31, 2013.

Hospice providers that have not already created a user account and begun structural measure data entry should do so immediately. The link to the data entry site is available on the Data Submission portion of the HQRP website at the bottom of the webpage under “Related Links.” For step-by-step guidance on account creation, account activation, data entry and data submission, refer to the Technical User’s Guide for Hospice Quality Reporting Data Entry and Submission

For any questions about using the Hospice Quality Reporting Data Entry and Submission Site  contact the QIES Technical Support Office Help-desk by phone at 1-877-201-4721 or email at help@qtso.com

Technical Help-Desk hours are 8:00 a.m. through 8:00 p.m. ET.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org

REMINDERS RE ACCOUNT ACTIVATION AND DATA SUBMISSION

Hospice Information from CMS ––

CMS requested that providers are reminded about registering for accounts for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program – the text follows.

Hospice Quality Reporting Program Data Entry/Submission Website now Available

Structural Measure Data Submission Deadline 1/31/13

 The data entry site for Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) data submission is live and active for provider use. The link to the data entry site is available on the Data Submission portion of the CMS HQRP website under “Related Links.” As providers may experience unexpected technical issues when registering for/activating their account, providers should not wait until all of their data is compiled to register for and activate their account. Early account creation and activation will help ensure that providers do not miss the 1/31/13 deadline for the structural measure. In order to meet the 1/31/13 structural measure deadline, providers should:

  1. Review the Technical User Guide for Hospice Quality Reporting Data Entry and Submission located on the CMS Hospice Quality Reporting Data Submission web page. It is imperative that providers review the Guide prior to registering for a user account. The Guide provides step-by-step instruction on registration, data entry, and submission of hospice quality reporting data. Also available is the Hospice Quality Reporting Program Data Entry and Submission WebEx recording. The recording is available on the Hospice Training page of the QTSO website.
  2. Register for a User Account. Visit the data entry website and create an account. Please note, hospice organizations will only be allowed one user account per CMS Certification Number (CCN). Hospices should carefully select the ONE individual that will enter required quality data for both measures. Thus, if you do not intend to complete the tasks of registration, data entry, attestation and submission for a specific hospice provider, please do not register for an account.
    Providers should register for an account now, even if they are not ready to submit their data immediately.
  1. Activate the User Account. After registering for an account, providers will receive a registration activation email from hospice.quality.report@GDIT.com to activate their account. To activate your account you must click on the link in the body of the email. If the Hospice Registration Activation E-mail is not received, please take the following steps:
    1. If you have more than one e-mail address, check all your email accounts in case you registered with a different account.
    2. If the activation email has not been received at any of your email accounts, take the following steps for each account:
      1. Check all your Mail folders, not just your inbox.
      2.  Look in any folders marked Junk or Spam for an e-mail from hospice.quality.report@GDIT.com.
      3. If you do not have access to a Junk or Spam folder, check with your e-mail technical support staff to see if your mail server may have trapped the e-mail.
      4. If you are unable to locate the e-mail, contact the QIES Help Desk at help@qtso.com for a Deactivation Form.
      5. Once you receive the Deactivation Form, fill it out completely and return it to the address on the form. Your registration attempt will be removed and you will be notified when you can register once again.  We strongly recommend you use a different e-mail address for the new registration.
  2. Once the account is activated, login and complete the Hospice Provider Information page on the data entry website.
  3. Enter your structural measure and NQF #0209 data. Providers do not have to enter all of their data in one sitting. Data for both measures can be saved on the data entry website and returned to at a later date.
  4. Attest to and submit data to CMS through the data entry website. Once your data entry for either measure is complete and accurate, submit and attest to the data for that measure.
    • Data for the structural measure must be attested to and submitted to CMS no later than January 31, 2013. Data for the NQF #0209 Pain Measure must be attested to and submitted to CMS no later than April 1, 2013.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Home Health and Hospice Education Webinars for 1st Quarter 2013.

The Medicare Administrative Contractor for Massachusetts, NHIC, Corp. has posted upcoming Home Health and Hospice Education Webinars for January-March 2013.  Providers are encouraged to participate in these educational sessions.

More information on registration, materials, and training assessments are provided on the Education Programs Information section for NHIC website. Note: Registration is required for all programs.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Encore-Special ODF for Hospice Providers

Did you miss the December 19th Open Door Forum that presented information about the Hospice Quality Reporting Program?

CMS announced that this ODF will have an encore recording available until midnight December 22nd

Agenda Topics included:

  • Updates about the upcoming availability of the data submission website
  • Information about how to access the data submission website and create a user account
  • Details about the data submission process
  • Question and Answer session

ENCORE CALL IN:  1-855-859-2056

CONFERENCE CODE:  81540883

 

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Special ODF for Hospice Providers

CMS is hosting a Special Open Door Forum for all hospice providers on December 19 from 1-2 pm EST. The Special ODF will present information about the Hospice Quality Reporting Program

Agenda Topics will include:

  • Updates about the upcoming availability of the data submission website
  • Information about how to access the data submission website and create a user account
  • Details about the data submission process
  • Question and Answer session
The Participant Dial in is: 1-800-837-1935
The Conference ID: 81540883

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Hospice Quality Reporting WebEx Now Available –Posted 12/5/2012

CMS’ Hospice Quality Reporting Program (QRP) on data entry and submission WebEx training  is now available online.  Hospice providers can view the WebEx at their convenience; no registration is required. It will remain available until April 2013. The training will help hospices prepare for web-based data entry and submission of quality data affecting the FY 2014 reimbursement rates.

The Hospice QRP Data Entry and Submission WebEx addresses how to:

  • Access the Hospice Quality Reporting Program Data Entry and Submission link
  • Register your Hospice Provider and User Account
  • Navigate the Structural Measure data entry, attestation and submission
  • Navigate the NQF #0209 Pain Measure data entry, attestation and submission
  • Access Clinical and Technical Help Desk Support

To meet the hospice quality reporting requirements in order to qualify for full payment of Medicare rates in FY 2014, hospices must submit two measures: the Structural/QAPI measure and the NQF #0209 measure. Reporting of the structural measure may begin Jan. 1, 2013, and must be completed by Jan. 31, 2013, while reporting of data on the pain measure (NQF 0209) must be completed by April 1, 2013.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Hospice WebEx Training on Data Submission — Taken Offline

CMS put out notification last week that the WebEx training related to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) was available online.  It was available for a BRIEF time on Wednesday night and Thursday; the WebEx training is temporarily unavailable due to technical issues.  Only the Technical User Guide is available on the website. The contractor is working to correct the issues and will get the training and manual back up as quickly as possible.  The HCA will keep you updated.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.