It says, in way of description:
CMS believes the SFP will establish an equitable approach utilizing hospice survey findings and other quality indicators related to performance to ensure that hospices are accountable for providing unsafe or poor-quality care to patients. Hospice programs that do not meet the SFP completion criteria may be considered for additional enforcement actions, including termination from the Medicare program.
Its official summary reads:
- Through increased regulatory oversight and enforcement, the SFP will address issues that could place hospice beneficiaries at risk of receiving poor quality of care.
- The memo outlines the hospice SFP criteria and the roles and responsibilities for CMS, the state survey agencies, and the accrediting organizations.
- Hospice programs that are unable to resolve the deficiencies that brought them into the SFP and cannot meet the SFP completion criteria, may be considered for termination from the Medicare program.
The document reiterates that SFP hospices will be selected from those that perform poorly on Hospice surveys, the Hospice Care Index (HCI) and Consumer Assessment of Health Care Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey Index.
From these poorest-performing hospices, CMS will choose 50 in the fourth quarter each calendar year to participate in the SFP during the following calendar year. CMS says the first 50 SFP participants will receive a letter, after they are chosen in November 2024, that informs the hospices they are SFP "cohorts" and spells out how to successfully complete the SFP program. Any deemed- status hospices will lose that designation and receive oversight under CMS until they either complete the SFP program or lose their Medicare certification.
The Hospice Special Focus Program website will list, at least annually, each hospice that potentially could be chosen for the SFP as well as those actually selected whether their status is "in progress," "completed," or "terminated from the Medicare program.
The document also includes some "Resources to improve Quality of Care" via the Quality, Safety, & Education Portal Training Catalog, and recommends signing up for CMS' guidance memos from the "CCSQ Policy, Administrative and Safety Special Alert Memorandums."
The memorandum directs questions or concerns to: CMS_HospiceSFP@cms.hhs.gov.
If you're concerned about how your hospice may fare in the SFP, contact me so I can help. My email is beth@noyceconsulting.com
Be well.
Beth