July 28 2025
OASIS Answers
Categories: HOPE

How to Plan and Schedule HOPE Symptom Follow-Up Visits

by Marian Essey, RN, BSN, COS-C

With the national implementation of the Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool officially beginning October 1, 2025, hospices across the country are finalizing their operational plans and training staff to meet CMS HOPE requirements. One of the most challenging aspects of implementation is planning for HOPE Symptom Follow-Up Visits (SFVs) – a key part of accurate HOPE data collection.

This blog provides timely guidance on what Symptom Follow-Up Visits are, when they’re required, and how your hospice can schedule and complete them efficiently for compliance and accuracy.

What Are HOPE Symptom Follow-Up Visits (SFVs)?

A Symptom Follow-Up Visit (SFV) is an in-person visit that must occur within 2 days of a HOPE Admission or HOPE Update Visit (HUV) when any of the eight symptoms in HOPE Item J2051—Symptom Impact are coded as having moderate or severe impact on the patient.

There are a series of SFV items embedded in HOPE at multiple timepoints:

HOPE Admission
HUV 1
HUV 2

A maximum of three Symptom Follow-Up Visits can occur during a single hospice stay—one within two days of each of these three timepoints.

How to Plan and Schedule Symptom Follow-Up Visits Under HOPE

Scheduling HOPE Symptom Follow-Up Visits may be one of the most operationally challenging aspects of HOPE implementation. SFVs can be completed by an RN or LPN/LVN, and planning ahead is key.

Although most hospices already have procedures for following up on symptoms, these visits are not always in-person. To stay compliant with HOPE data collection requirements, your agency may find it easier to assume an SFV will be needed and schedule accordingly:

Add an SFV to the schedule within 2 days of each HOPE Admission and each HOPE Update Visit (HUV 1 and HUV 2).
If, upon review, no symptoms meet the SFV criteria, the visit can be removed or converted to a routine nursing visit.

This proactive scheduling model helps ensure your hospice stays compliant with CMS HOPE guidance while minimizing last-minute visit coordination. You might decide that after each admission, a visit within two days should always be scheduled, with the admitting RN coordinating with the scheduler to determine whether the visit qualifies as an SFV or a routine nursing visit.

And don’t forget to coordinate with your EHR vendor to confirm your system supports your operational plan and documentation requirements.

Strengthen Your Team’s HOPE Accuracy

For simplified, practical strategies to improve HOPE data collection accuracy, explore OASIS Answers’ HOPE in Action webinar—a two-part recorded series that focuses on coding guidance, timepoints, and real-world examples to prepare your team for success under CMS HOPE requirements.

Stay tuned to the OASIS Answers blog for more tips on implementing HOPE, and follow us for updates on CMS Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) changes, HOPE training, and CHS-C Certification.

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