he Hospice Quality Reporting Program will resume public reporting in February 2022. To help you prepare, CMS updated the Public Reporting: Key Dates for Providers webpage with information on refreshes through August 2022. The text is reproduced below:
CMS encourages providers to be familiar with the important dates outlined in the tables below. Providers need to submit all Hospice Item Set (HIS) modification or inactivation records prior to the 4.5 month data correction deadline for public reporting for the modifications to be reflected in the corresponding HIS Provider Preview Report and public display, located on Care Compare.
This means that providers have 4.5 months following the end of each calendar year (CY) quarter to review and correct their HIS records with target dates (which is the admission date for HIS-Admission records and discharge date for HIS-Discharge records) in that quarter for public reporting. After this 4.5 month data correction deadline has passed, HIS data from that calendar quarter will be permanently frozen for the purposes of public reporting. Updates made after the correction deadline will not appear in any subsequent Care Compare refresh. This policy is at the HIS record-level, meaning a patient’s HIS-Admission and HIS-Discharge records may have different data correction deadlines.
HQRP data submission requirements were temporarily exempted in response to the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. Additionally, public reporting of hospices’ data was frozen after the November 2020 refresh through November 2021. Beginning with the February 2022 refresh public reporting will resume for quality measure data, including the release of Provider Preview Reports. Please reference the data collection deadlines below for more details. For additional information on COVID-19 PHE data exemption, please see the Hospice COVID-19 Public Reporting Tip Sheet in the Downloads section of the HQRP Requirements and Best Practices webpage or the Hospice FY2022 Final Rule at the CMS Hospice Center website.
Care Compare Refresh Schedule and Preview Periods
| Refresh Date | August and November 2021 Refresh | February 2022 Refresh | May 2022 Refresh | August 2022 Refresh |
| Quarters Included in Refresh for HIS Measures (includes patients discharged during these quarters) | Freeze | Quarter 3 2020 – Quarter 1 2021 | Quarter 3 2020 – Quarter 2 2021 | Quarter 4 2020 – Quarter 3 2021 |
| Quarters included in Refresh for CAHPS (includes patients who died during these quarters) | Freeze | Quarter 4 2018 – Quarter 4 2019,Quarter 3 2020 – Quarter 1 2021 | Quarter 1 2019-Quarter 4 2019, Quarter 3 2020-Quarter 2 2021 | Quarter 2 2019-Quarter 4 2019, Quarter 3 2020-Quarter 3 2021 |
| Quarters included in Refresh for Claims-based Measures (includes patients with claims for care received during these quarters) | N/A | N/A | Quarter 2 2019-Quarter 4 2019;Quarter 3 2020-Quarter 3 2021 | Quarter 2 2019-Quarter 4 2019;Quarter 3 2020-Quarter 3 2021 |
| Month that Provider Preview Reports (HIS, Claims, CAHPS) are released | Not Released | November | March | May |
Upcoming Data Correction Deadlines for Public Reporting
| Target Date of HIS Record | HIS Record Data Correction Deadline for Public Reporting (11:59:59 p.m. E.T.) | |
| Quarter 3, 2021 | (07/1/21–09/30/21) | February 15, 2022 |
| Quarter 4, 2021 | (10/1/21–12/31/21) | May 16, 2022 |
| Quarter 1, 2022 | (01/1/22-03/31/22) | August 15, 2022 |
| Quarter 2, 2022 | (04/1/22-06/30/22) | November 15, 2022 |
CMS encourages providers to review quality measure data early and often using their CASPER QM Reports and not wait until the 4.5-month data correction deadline for public reporting to submit any necessary HIS corrections. For more information on how providers can use their CASPER QM Reports to review data please see the CASPER QM Reports Fact Sheet in the Downloads section of the HQRP Requirements and Best Practices webpage.
CY 2021 CAHPS Hospice Survey Schedule Remains
During CY 2021 the CAHPS Hospice Survey will continue data collection as normal. This means that deadlines for data submission to the CAHPS Hospice Survey data warehouse will occur on the second Wednesday of the month in February, May, August and November.
CAHPS Hospice Survey Upcoming Data Submission Deadlines in CY 2021
| Quarter | Dates of Deaths | Data Submission Deadline |
| Q3 2021 | July-September 2021 | February 10, 2022 |
| Q4 2021 | October-December 2021 | May 12, 2022 |
| Q1 2022 | January-March 2022 | August 11, 2022 |
| Q2 2022 | April-June 2022 | November 10, 2022 |