About this Page

The Announcements & Spotlight web page provides recent news and updates pertinent to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). On this page, you will find announcements about newly posted resource guides and factsheets, available Quarterly Update documents, and Annual Payment Updates (APU) updates, among other notifications.

Updates

August 6, 2025

CMS is excited to announce that the HOPE assessment submission and reporting functionality will be launched within the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES) on October 1, 2025.

The HOPE Validation Utility Tool (VUT) for vendor testing is now available. The link to the VUT and more information about the transition to iQIES can be found on the HOPE Technical Information webpage.

August 1, 2025

Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements, and Hospice Certifying Physician Provider Enrollment Requirements Final Rule (CMS-1835-F)

On July 31, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule (CMS-1835-P) that provides updates to the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). This rule corrects a technical error in the regulations text at § 418.312(j). This rule also reinforces updates on the HQRP and the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) instrument and public reporting, future quality measures (QMs), and the transition of hospice providers from the Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES) to the internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES). 

The final rule went on display at the Federal Register and will be available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/current

For further information and to view the Final Rule, please visit the CMS.gov Hospice Center webpage here: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/enrollment-renewal/providers-suppliers/hospice-center.

August 1, 2025

NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE: HOPE Implementation Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is answering Frequently Asked Questions about the transition from the HIS to the HOPE tool and updated HQRP reporting requirements.

This FAQ can be accessed through the Hospice Quality Reporting Training and Education Library webpage.

If you have questions about accessing this resource, please email the PAC Training Mailbox. Content-related questions should be submitted to HospiceQualityQuestions@cms.hhs.gov.

July 21, 2025

Hospice Quality Reporting Program: Non-Compliance Notifications

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing notifications to hospices that were determined to be out of compliance with Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) requirements for calendar year (CY) 2024, which will affect their fiscal year (FY) 2026 Annual Payment Update (APU). Non-compliance notifications will be distributed by the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and will be placed into hospices’ Certification and Survey Enhanced Reporting (CASPER) folders in QIES on July 21, 2025. Hospices that receive a letter of non-compliance may submit a request for reconsideration to CMS via email no later than 11:59 pm, August 26, 2025. If you receive a notice of non-compliance and would like to request a reconsideration, see the instructions in your notification and on the Reconsideration Requests webpage.

Please note: Any reconsiderations containing protected health information (PHI) will not be processed. All PHI must be removed for a reconsideration to be reviewed.

Additionally, all submissions must be less than 20 MB overall (email message and attachments). Submissions that are greater than 20 MB in size cannot be processed.

July 21, 2025

REGISTRATION OPEN FOR LIVE HOPE TRAINING: Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) National Implementation Virtual Training Program Course 2: Coding Workshop

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a live coding workshop on August 5, 2025 which will provide coding practice for items that are new for HOPE, as well as the existing and updated items carried over from the Hospice Item Set (HIS).

Register now at: The Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) National Implementation Coding Workshop

Completion of Course 1: Didactic Recorded Training Series is recommended as a prerequisite for the coding workshop. This course can be found here.

July 15, 2025

NEW RESOURCES AVAILABLE: Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) National Implementation Virtual Training Program Course 1: Didactic Recorded Training Series 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a series of five self-paced recorded presentations and corresponding PDFs which highlight items that are new for HOPE, as well as the existing and updated items carried over from the Hospice Item Set (HIS). 

This training can be accessed through the Hospice Quality Reporting Training and Education Library webpage

June 24, 2025

CMS announces the availability of a Hospice Vendor Update slide deck and an Errata (V1.00.2) for HOPE Data Specs (FINAL) Effective October 1, 2025. This information is available in the Downloads section of the HOPE Technical Information webpage and will help hospice vendors to prepare for HOPE Implementation.

June 20, 2025

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Hospice Quality Reporting Program Fall 2024 Technical Expert Panel (TEP) Report.  The document can be accessed from the Downloads section on the CMS HQRP Provider and Stakeholder Engagement page.

June 20, 2025

The Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) Quality Measure (QM) Specifications Users Manual V1.03 including HOPE Measures is now available. This QM Manual contains instructions to calculate all HQRP measures, including the HOPE-based quality measures. The document can be accessed from the Downloads section on the CMS HQRP Current Measures | CMS

May 21, 2025

Hospice Preview Reports for the August 2025 Refresh – NOW AVAILABLE IN QIES 

Providers can now access the latest Provider Preview Reports via the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER) application. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on the compare tool on Medicare.gov and the Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the August 2025 refresh.

Once released in CASPER, providers will have 30 days during which to review their quality measure results. The preview period for the latest Provider Preview Report lasts from May 21, 2025 to June 20, 2025. Although the actual “preview period” is 30 days, the reports will continue to be available for another 30 days, or a total of 60 days. CMS encourages providers to download and save their Hospice Provider Preview Reports for future reference, as they will no longer be available in CASPER after this 60-day period.  

For more information, please visit the Hospice QRP Public Reporting Background and Announcements webpage.

You can also learn more about the Provider Preview Report (HIS and Claims-based measures)  here and about the CAHPS Preview Report here. Hospice QRP Key Dates for Providers can be found here. The 3^rd Edition HQRP Public Reporting Tip Sheet is available here (PDF).

May 21, 2025

HQRP Public Reporting Quarterly Refresh – May 2025

The May 2025 quarterly refresh for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program is now available on the Compare tool on Medicare.gov.

For more information, please visit the Hospice QRP Public Reporting Background and Announcements webpage and see the FY2025 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule at https://www.cms.gov/Center/Provider-Type/Hospice-Center.

May 15, 2025

NEW RESOURCE AVAILABLE: Getting Started with the Hospice Quality Reporting Program 

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering a web-based training that provides an introduction to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) and public reporting on Care Compare. 

This web-based training can be accessed through the Hospice Quality Reporting Training and Education Library webpage.

April 22, 2025

The Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) updated final materials are now available.  Materials include the HOPE Guidance Manual v1.01, the Items sets (HOPE Admission v1.01, HOPE Update Visit (HUV) v1.01, HOPE Discharge v1.01 and HOPE ALL Item v1.01), the HIS to HOPE v1.01 Change Table, and the HOPE Guidance Manual v1.00 to v1.01. All of these documents can be accessed from the Downloads section on the CMS HQRP HOPE webpage.    

April 11, 2025

Important Updates on the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP)

Swingtech sends informational messages to hospices related to the Quality Reporting Program (QRP) on a quarterly basis. Their latest outreach communication can be found on the HQRP Requirements and Best Practices webpage. If you want to receive Swingtech’s quarterly emails, add or update the email addresses to which these messages are sent by sending an email to QRPHelp@swingtech.com. Be sure to include the name of your facility and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Certification Number (CCN) along with any requested updates.

April 11, 2025

Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update, Hospice Conditions of Participation Updates, Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements, and Hospice Certifying Physician Provider Enrollment Requirements Proposed Rule (CMS-1835-P)

On April 11, 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule (CMS-1835-P) that provides updates to the fiscal year (FY) 2026 Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). This rule proposes to correct an error in the regulations text at § 418.312(j). This rule also reinforces updates on the HQRP and the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) instrument and public reporting, future quality measures (QMs), and the transition of hospice providers from the Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES) to the internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES). Finally, this proposed rule includes requests for information (RFI) regarding future QM concepts for the HQRP and transitioning to digital quality measures (dQM).

The proposed rule went on display at the Federal Register and will be available at: https://www.federalregister.gov/public-inspection/current

For further information and to view the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, please visit the CMS.gov Hospice Center webpage here: http://www.cms.gov/Center/Provider- Type/Hospice-Center.html.

March 25, 2025

Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) December Forum Materials Now Available. 

On Thursday, December 12, 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) hosted an HQRP Forum to provide an overview of the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool and the transition to the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES). Materials from this HQRP Forum, including a recording of the presentation, are now available in the Downloads section of the Provider and Stakeholder Engagement page at: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Hospice-QRP-Provider-Engagement-Opportunities.

Hospice Quality Reporting Program Archives