April 29 2025
OASIS

CMS Posts Important Hospice Resources for HOPE and More!

by Marian Essey, RN, BSN, COS-C

The CMS Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) recently published several important documents that support the October 1, 2025 launch of the new Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) assessment tool. As of October 1, 2025, HOPE replaces the Hospice Item Set (HIS). Also, during the December 2024 HQRP Forum, CMS announced that hospices will transition from QIES to iQIES with the launch of HOPE, beginning October 1, 2025.

The following lists these important resources and references. Please note that the HOPE Guidance Manual and Item Sets REPLACE previous versions of these documents.

December 2024 HQRP Forum Materials – These materials provide additional information about HOPE and the transition to iQIES.
HOPE Guidance Manual v1.01 – Replaces the original (v1.00) manual, with clarifications and corrections to the original manual.
HOPE Guidance Manual Change Table v1.00 to v1.01 – This 8-page document outlines the changes to the updated guidance manual in an easy-to-follow table format.
HOPE Item Sets v1.01 (available in downloads at the bottom of the webpage) – These replace the previous 1.00 version with some corrections and the replacement of the item A0800. Gender with the new item A0810. Sex.
- HOPE All Item Set v1.01
- HOPE Admission v1.01
- HOPE Update Visit v1.01
- HOPE Discharge v1.01
- HOPE Item Set Change Table (HOPE v1.01 compared to HIS v3.00)

In addition to these HOPE resource updates, CMS also recently posted the Fiscal Year 2026 Hospice Wage Index and Payment Rate Update and Hospice Quality Reporting Program Requirements also known as the hospice proposed rule. This rule proposes changes to the admission to hospice regulations and the hospice face-to-face attestation requirements under the certification of terminal illness regulations.

It also includes a technical correction to the regulatory text and provides updates to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program requirements. Finally, this proposed rule solicits comments regarding requests for information surrounding future measure concepts for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program.

Stay tuned OASIS Answers, Inc. blogs and announcements for more information on updates to the HQRP and HOPE. Sign up for emails from OASIS Answers to receive information and updates on the issues that matter in the hospice and home health industries.