September 21 2025
OASIS Answers
Categories: HOPE

Accuracy in HOPE Item J0915 – Neuropathic Pain

by Kerry Termine, DPT, HCS-D, COS-C

J0915 – Neuropathic Pain is a required data element in the Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool, collected at the HOPE Admission assessment. According to the HOPE Guidance Manual v1.01, neuropathic pain is defined as “pain caused by a lesion or disease of the somatosensory nervous system.”

How to Accurately Code J0915 in HOPE Assessments

To ensure compliance with CMS HOPE requirements, clinicians must rely on acceptable data sources to determine whether a patient is exhibiting signs and symptoms of neuropathic pain. Data sources include:

Patient interview
Caregiver interview
Direct observation
Clinical assessment
Clinical judgment

Coding Responses for HOPE Item J0915

If the patient exhibits signs and symptoms of neuropathic pain at the time of assessment → code 1 – Yes.
If the patient does not exhibit signs and symptoms of neuropathic pain → code 0 – No.

It is important to note that J0915 is only assessing for signs and symptoms of neuropathic pain, not for a confirmed medical diagnosis.

Key HOPE Coding Guidance for Neuropathic Pain

No physician-confirmed diagnosis is required. Clinicians should code based on observed evidence, not whether neuropathic pain has been formally diagnosed.
Assessment is timepoint-specific. The coding reflects the patient’s status at the time of the HOPE Admission, not their overall history.
Consistency is critical. Accurate coding of J0915 helps ensure the integrity of hospice quality reporting and supports CMS compliance.

Takeaway: When completing HOPE Item J0915 – Neuropathic Pain, remember that the focus is on observed signs and symptoms, using valid data sources, without requiring a physician diagnosis. This ensures accurate hospice data collection under the CMS HOPE tool.

To learn more about accurately collecting HOPE items, check out the OASIS Answers’ HOPE in Action webinar.

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