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The Corridor Group, Inc. Participates in two-day intensive on new Medicare hospice condiions of participation.
Overland Park, Kansas, June 19, 2008 - In early June, Debra Sellers and Claire Tehan, Associates of The Corridor Group, Inc. (TCG) and other invited guests, participated in a two-day intensive on the new Medicare Hospice Conditions of Participation (Hospice CoPs), the federal guidelines that hospice programs must follow when serving the needs of Medicare beneficiaries. The two-day intensive, which was organized by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), brought together more than 300 hospice leaders, representing 46 states. Jan Potts, TCG’s Director of Consulting Services, also sits on NHPCO’s Regulatory Committee and participated in the planning leading up to this intensive program.
The new guidelines were officially published in the Federal Register on June 5, 2008 and mark an important milestone in the history of hospice care. (view the document: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/08-1305.pdf) This is the first time that the guidelines have been significantly revised since they were created in 1983 and, at the same time, reflects a significant shift in focus for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency tasked with developing and enforcing them.
Key presenters at the event were two CMS staff members who were involved in the nine-year project from its beginning: Captain Mary Rossi-Coajou and Danielle Shearer from the Office of Clinical Standards. These CMS officials were the lead authors of the 5/27/05 proposed rule, were the primary reviewers of the comments submitted during the subsequent public comment period and instrumental in making revisions to the final CoPs.
The new Hospice CoPs focus on providing quality patient-centered care and putting the needs of the patient and family first. Moreover, they give providers flexibility with meeting many of the new requirements in recognition of the varying challenges providers face. On the other hand, providers are also being required to perform more thorough and ongoing assessments of patient and family needs—and document their actions (and inactions) in accordance with the plan of care.
The new Hospice CoPs also place significant emphasis on quality assessment and performance improvement—known as QAPI. “What CMS is looking for is tangible proof that programs have evaluated all aspects of their organizations and are making concerted efforts to make measureable improvements,” commented Jeannee Parker Martin, President of TCG.
Medicare-certified hospices have 180 days from the June 5th publication date, or December 2, 2008, in which to become compliant with the new requirements. In terms of the QAPI component, providers have until January 31, 2009 to collect data on their operations, assess where improvements are needed, and get appropriate improvement projects under way.
TCG has developed practical tools and expert resources to help its hospice clients prepare for Hospice CoPs implementation on December 2, 2008. TCG clients who are members of NHPCO can also benefit from a range of resources available through the Quality Partners program and the Regulatory and Compliance Center on NHPCO’s website.