Over the course of the first quarter of 2023 the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) Help Desk responded to 54 questions. The Help Desk grouped questions and answers into five areas:

• When do new hospices need to start reporting the HIS data? Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) clarifies that new hospices should begin reporting data on the date noted in the letter head of their CCN notification letter.
• Does the HCI measure for weekend nursing visits exclude inpatient hospice care units? CMS stated that for HCI, all hospices are counted the same, regardless of their structure or the setting in which they provide care.
• Providers asked when the Hospice Visits in Last Days of Life measure will be updated. CMS shared that this claims-based measure is refreshed annually each November and the current range on the provider reports (April 1, 2019 – Dec 31, 2019 & July 1, 2020 – Sept 30, 2021) are the most current data.
• When submitting a HIS Admission or Discharge record is it acceptable for A0600. Social Security Number (SSN) and Medicare Numbers to be blank? CMS clarified, to avoid inaccuracies in patient record matching, Item A0600 should only be left blank if the patient has no SSN or in the rare circumstances when an SSN is unavailable.
• Providers requested more support in understanding the CASPER reports, Hospice-Level QM Report, and Hospice Patient-Level QM Report. CMS shared the following resources to help providers better understand these reports: Getting Started with Hospice CASPER Quality Measure Reports: August 2022 and  Requirements and Best Practices Provider Toolkit or Downloads Section.