The hospice industry is preparing for a significant transformation. On October 1, 2025, the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool will replace the Hospice Item Set (HIS), a historic change in the way hospices collect and evaluate quality data. Developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HOPE aims to enhance care delivery by providing a more patient-centered, outcomes-driven approach for hospice evaluation. What does this transition mean for hospice professionals? This article takes a deep dive into HOPE's development process, the challenges it addresses, and the milestones leading to this significant shift.

As of March 31st, Home Health Agencies (HHAs) have three months of quality episodes completed using the new Performance Year (PY) 2025 measure set of the Expanded Home Health Value-based Purchasing (HHVBP) program. How is your HHA performing? It is not as easy as looking at your past HHVBP performances as there is some significant changes with PY 2025. CMS not only changed the number of measures from 12 to 10 (deleted 5, added in 3), many of the measure weightings were adjusted, and the baseline year was changed from CY 2022 to CY 2023 reflecting more current outcome data. CMS did keep the ratio of measure weights across the OASIS/Claims/HHCAHPS categories the same at 35%/35%/30% respectively.

In 2025, CMS has highlighted critical focus areas for surveyors conducting health inspections in Long-Term Care (LTC) facilities. These priorities emphasize improving care quality, enhancing regulatory compliance, and ensuring resident well-being. I read the recently released CMS 2025 Mission & Priorities document to summarize the key areas for focused review, provide you with best practices for each item and action opportunities with practical steps to help your facility prepare.

Understanding and improving patient outcomes is a priority for every skilled nursing facility, and that’s exactly what we’re covering in this SHP Podcast. Hosted by Dahlia Kroth, this episode dives into the critical topic of the Discharge Function Score and its role in patient care. Joining Dahlia is Greg Seiple, Vice President of Clinical Informatics at SHP/IntelliLogix, who shares his expertise on this essential metric. Together, they unpack everything from how Discharge Function Scores are calculated to their real-world applications in supporting residents’ post-discharge needs.

As we draw closer to 2025, have you considered the huge impact Improvement in Management of Oral Medications (Oral Meds) will have in the upcoming year? Oral Meds play an integral part in all Home Health Quality Programs (HHQRP). Let’s break down each one and discuss best practices to ensure accuracy.

Hospice agencies nationwide are navigating significant updates to the CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey, and we’re here to help. Introducing the CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey Crosswalk Guide, a pivotal resource designed to simplify these changes and support your quality improvement efforts. This guide breaks down the latest CMS updates, offering clear explanations to help your team better understand the adjustments and align your processes accordingly. By leveraging this resource, you will improve survey comprehension and equip your team to refine care strategies based on actionable insights.

The shift from the HIS to the HOPE assessment brings important changes for hospice agencies, and we’re here to ensure your team is prepared. We’re proud to announce the release of the HIS to HOPE Crosswalk Guide, a vital resource designed to facilitate a smooth and confident transition. This comprehensive guide provides a detailed side-by-side comparison of HIS and HOPE assessment items, highlighting key updates and timelines. By using this resource, your agency can enhance accuracy, streamline processes, and uphold the highest standards of care—all while maintaining compliance with the new requirements.

This blog post is a summary of our industry topic webinar, 'The Facility Assessment: Meeting the Challenge.' Continue reading for additional resources and a link to the video. Facility assessments are critical in the healthcare industry, especially in light of recent regulatory changes. These assessments play a significant role in ensuring that healthcare facilities meet the needs of their residents while adhering to industry standards.

The 2024 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program recipients have been announced and we are extremely pleased to congratulate the 203 SHP clients who received the award this year.

When a resident is preparing to leave a skilled nursing facility, healthcare professionals use something called the Discharge Function Score to gauge how well they’ll manage on their own. This score is crucial because it helps determine the level of support or care the resident might need after they leave. But how exactly is this score calculated? Let’s break it down in simple terms.