To improve upon the freeze date policy and ensure that Hospice Compare is an accurate and consistent representation of hospice quality, CMS instituted a 4.5 month data correction deadline for public reporting in the FY 2019 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Requirements (82 FR 38638-38640). Under this new policy, beginning January 1, 2019, providers will have approximately 4.5 months following the end of each calendar year (CY) quarter to review and correct their HIS records with target dates in that quarter for public reporting. After this 4.5 month data correction deadline has passed, HIS data from that CY quarter will be permanently frozen for the purposes of public reporting. Updates made after the correction deadline will not appear in any subsequent Hospice Compare refresh.
For more information about this policy, please refer to the Public Reporting: Key Dates for Providers webpage https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/Hospice-Quality-Reporting/Public-Reporting-Key-Dates-for-Providers.html and the new 4.5 Month Data Correction Deadline for Public Reporting Fact Sheet posted in the Downloads section of the page.