The Hospice Item Set (HIS) deadline has passed. Is your agency compliant? If not, you risk breaking contracts with Medicare and losing massive revenue.

1. Is
Your
Agency
Ready
For
Hospice
Item
Set?
Your
Time
Is
Up!
Hospice
Item
Set
(HIS)
is
part
of
the
HQRP,
which
mandates
that
Medicare-­‐certified
hospices
must
submit
quality
data
to
CMS.
As
of
July
1,
2014,
all
hospice
care
providers
are
required
to
have
a
HIS-­‐Admission
and
HIS-­‐Discharge
record
for
each
patient.
Hospice
Item
Set
is
a
necessary
data
collection
tool
that
collects
patient
data
during
admission
and
at
discharge.
This
information
is
then
submitted
to
the
CMS
system
electronically.
Essentially,
HIS
will
address
the
seven
quality
measures
used
for
patient
identification.
The
seven
process
measures
that
will
be
assessed
include:
• Patients
treated
with
opioid
who
are
given
a
bowel
regimen
• Pain
screening
• Pain
assessment
• Dyspnea
treatment
• Dyspnea
screening

2. • Treatment
preferences
• Beliefs/values
addressed
Understanding
Hospice
Item
Set
Requirements
Hospice
care
providers
will
have
fourteen
days
from
the
time
a
patient
is
admitted
to
complete
their
HIS-­‐Admission
record,
and
up
to
seven
days
to
submit
a
patient’s
HIS-­‐
Discharge
record.
After
the
completion
of
these
records,
hospices
will
then
have
thirty
days
to
submit
that
electronically.
Hospice
Item
Set
information
is
submitted
to
the
CMS’s
Quality
Improvement
Evaluation
System,
as
well
as
the
Assessment
Submission
and
Processing
system.
Implementing
HIS
in
Your
Organization
As
a
hospice
care
provider,
it
is
imperative
that
you
follow
the
Hospice
Item
Set
requirements.
Proper
implementation
is
key.
One
way
to
implement
HIS
is
to
map
items
you
have
in
your
current
clinical
records
and
bring
them
over
to
the
HIS
records.
You
can
add
your
own
or
additional
assessment
forms
in
addition
to
the
HIS
forms.
You
are
not
required
to
add
HIS
items
to
your
clinical
or
patient
records,
but
doing
so
makes
it
easier
to
transfer
the
necessary
information.
Maintenance
of
Hospice
Item
Set
Records
Hospices
are
urged
to
retain
copies
of
all
HIS
records.
If
records
are
corrected,
these
versions,
in
addition
to
the
original
version,
should
also
be
retained.
You
should
also
consider
saving
signature
pages
for
any
potential
validation
purposes
in
the
future.
Why
a
Professional
Consultant
Is
Key
Hospice
Item
Set
has
a
number
of
complicated
requirements
and
procedural
guidelines
that
cannot
be
quickly
learned.
Therefore,
most
hospices
rely
on
the
expertise
of
knowledgeable
home
health
and
hospice
professionals.
Consultants
can
help
train
your
staff
and
implement
a
proper
HIS
system
based
on
your
current
record-­‐keeping
strategy.
Since
the
HIS
deadline
has
already
come
and
gone,
it’s
important
for
you
to
achieve
compliance
as
quickly
as
possible.

3. Hospices
that
do
not
comply
with
HIS
put
themselves
at
risk
for
multiple
penalties,
including
losing
their
contracts
with
Medicare—the
result
being
a
business-­‐breaking
loss
of
revenue.
Kenyon
HomeCare
Consulting
can
assist
your
hospice
with
all
of
your
Hospice
Item
Set
training
and
implementation
needs.
With
nearly
thirty
years
of
experience
assisting
home
health,
home
care,
and
hospice
businesses
with
CMS
requirements,
Kenyon
HomeCare
Consulting
can
create
a
HIS
solution
that
suits
your
current
needs.
Schedule
an
appointment
at
www.KenyonHCC.com
to
speak
with
one
of
our
hospice
care
consultants
today.