Medicare-certified hospices will start collecting data on the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) beginning on October 1, 2025 (FY 2026). It’s time to start training staff on the key elements of this data collection tool which will now be required for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). Access our crosswalk of the new tool and links to a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) explainer video here.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on September 16 released final materials for its Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) assessment tool that CMS finalized to start October 1, 2025. Read more here.

Included in the final FY2025 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements, released on the Federal Register public inspection site July 30, are finalized provisions to implement the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool. Read more here.

This Fiscal Year (FY) 2025 proposed hospice wage index rule contains the proposal to implement the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool, a long-awaited standardized patient level data collection tool that CMS proposes to start on or after October 2025. Read our analysis here.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS)Fiscal Year 2025 Hospice Wage Index proposed rule, released March 28, contains the proposal to implement the standardized patient assessment – the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool. Read more here.

Included in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Measures Under Consideration list, released December 1, are two new process measures for hospices based on the yet-to-be-released HOPE tool. Read more here.