CMS launches Hospice Compare site

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has launched a new tool to allow consumers to compare quality data on hospice and palliative care providers.

Hospice Compare, introduced today, “reports on about 3,800 hospice providers and will provide a snapshot of the quality of care delivered by each provider,” said Kate Goodrich, MD, MHS, director of the CMS Center for Clinical Standards and Quality, in a CMS media briefing.

The site will collect self-reported data on hospice demographics and individual quality measures. Consumers can compare up to three hospices simultaneously onscreen, or can download a database from the site.

The site data currently includes seven quality measures:

  • Hospice and palliative treatment preferences
  • Respect for patient beliefs and values
  • Pain screening
  • Pain assessment
  • Shortness of breath screening
  • Shortness of breath treatment
  • Bowel regimen for opioid treatments

CMS plans to add additional quality measures in late 2018, including caregiver provider assessments and certain claims-based financial measures such as hospital transfers and number of visits when death is imminent.

Other CMS comparison websites include Nursing Home Compare, Long-Term Care Hospital Compare, Hospital Compare, Dialysis Compare and Home Health Compare.

For more information on today’s announcement, please see the CMS web page on Hospice Quality Public Reporting


Topics: Executive Leadership , Finance , Medicare/Medicaid , Regulatory Compliance , Risk Management