By Jill Neeley January 07, 2026
How CMS Updates Drove CAHPS Hospice Return Rates Higher in Q2 2025

The Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) Hospice Survey is a vital tool for capturing the experiences of families and caregivers with hospice care. In Q2 2025, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) implemented several key changes to the survey process. This blog analyzes the impact of these changes, using specific return rate data to show how each intervention contributed to a significant increase in survey participation.

Hospice
July 18, 2025
SHP Announces 2024 Best-of-the-Best Winners

The annual SHPBest™ award program was created to recognize home health and hospice providers that consistently provide outstanding performance in patient and caregiver satisfaction. SHP would like to congratulate the 2024 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been acknowledged for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2024 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice , Company News ,
June 23, 2025
Putting Hope Into the New HOPE Assessment Tool

Hospices will be required to implement the new Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) assessment tool on October 1, 2025. HOPE will take the place of the current Hospice Item Set (HIS) assessment tool utilized today. So, what does that mean for Hospices today? Over all there are new assessment timepoints that must be completed, along with new data elements, but questions remain regarding submissions of the assessments.

Hospice
June 12, 2025
Behind the Scenes: The Journey from HIS to HOPE

The hospice industry is preparing for a significant transformation. On October 1, 2025, the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool will replace the Hospice Item Set (HIS), a historic change in the way hospices collect and evaluate quality data. Developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), HOPE aims to enhance care delivery by providing a more patient-centered, outcomes-driven approach for hospice evaluation. What does this transition mean for hospice professionals? This article takes a deep dive into HOPE's development process, the challenges it addresses, and the milestones leading to this significant shift.

Hospice
December 18, 2024
New CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey Crosswalk Guide Released

Hospice agencies nationwide are navigating significant updates to the CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey, and we’re here to help. Introducing the CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey Crosswalk Guide, a pivotal resource designed to simplify these changes and support your quality improvement efforts. This guide breaks down the latest CMS updates, offering clear explanations to help your team better understand the adjustments and align your processes accordingly. By leveraging this resource, you will improve survey comprehension and equip your team to refine care strategies based on actionable insights.

Hospice
December 13, 2024
Introducing the HIS to HOPE Crosswalk Guide

The shift from the HIS to the HOPE assessment brings important changes for hospice agencies, and we’re here to ensure your team is prepared. We’re proud to announce the release of the HIS to HOPE Crosswalk Guide, a vital resource designed to facilitate a smooth and confident transition. This comprehensive guide provides a detailed side-by-side comparison of HIS and HOPE assessment items, highlighting key updates and timelines. By using this resource, your agency can enhance accuracy, streamline processes, and uphold the highest standards of care—all while maintaining compliance with the new requirements.

Hospice
July 24, 2024
SHP Announces 2023 Best-of-the-Best Winners

The annual SHPBest™ award program was created to recognize home health and hospice providers that consistently provide outstanding performance in patient and caregiver satisfaction. SHP would like to congratulate the 2023 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been acknowledged for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2023 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
October 12, 2023
NAHC and SHP to Co-sponsor BerryDunn's Home Health and Hospice Patient and Family Satisfaction Project

BerryDunn is pleased to announce that the National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC) has joined the firm in launching a research study and quality improvement project aimed at helping home health and hospice agencies improve patient and family satisfaction. In addition, Strategic Health Programs (SHP), a leading data analytics and benchmarking company, will play a pivotal role in facilitating streamlining data for the project.

Home Health , Hospice ,
August 24, 2023
SHP announces 2022 Best-of-the-Best winners

The annual SHPBest™ award program was created to recognize home health and hospice providers that consistently provide outstanding performance in patient and caregiver satisfaction. SHP would like to congratulate the 2022 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been acknowledged for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2022 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
By Chris Attaya August 01, 2023
New Hospice Special Focus Program starts in CY 2024

CMS shared the details of the new Hospice Special Focus Program (SFP) in the CMS Home Health Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule posted in the Federal Register on July 10th. While expected, CMS often adds rule-making for non-home health services when either timing or urgency makes it necessary. Based on the scrutiny Hospice has been under from numerous OIG reports and the negative publicity from articles written by ProPublica and the New Yorker, Hospice has been in the crosshairs of increased oversight.

Hospice , In the Press ,
June 13, 2022
SHP announces 2021 Best-of-the-Best winners

The annual SHPBest™ award program was created to recognize home health and hospice providers that consistently provide outstanding performance in patient and caregiver satisfaction. SHP would like to congratulate the 2021 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been acknowledged for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2021 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
By Chris Attaya April 20, 2021
The Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) Star Ratings are Coming!

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their annual Hospice Wage and Payment Rate proposed rule for FY 2022 in the Federal Register on April 14 and there was plenty of updates regarding the HQRP. Many were expected but the one I found noteworthy is the addition of public reporting for a new CAHPS Hospice Survey Star Rating.

Hospice
By Chris Attaya October 28, 2020
Hospice Quality Reporting Changes are Coming

CMS recently announced some changes that will be implemented in the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). For one, they are proposing to replace the Hospice Visits when Death is Imminent Measure Pair (HVWDII) with one new claims-based measure, Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life (HDVDL). Another big announcement is that after the November 2020 refresh, Hospice Compare data will be frozen until February 2022. Hospices will need access to real-time quality scores to guide and enhance their quality improvement programs.

Hospice
July 06, 2020
SHP announces 2019 Best-of-the-Best winners

The annual SHPBest™ award program was created to recognize home health and hospice providers that consistently provide outstanding performance in patient and caregiver satisfaction. SHP would like to congratulate the 2019 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been acknowledged for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2019 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
June 13, 2019
SHP announces 2018 Best-of-the-Best winners

The annual SHPBest™ recognition program was created to acknowledge home health and hospice providers that consistently provide high quality service. SHP would like to congratulate the 2018 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been recognized for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2018 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
By Chris Attaya May 02, 2019
FY 2020 Hospice Proposed Rule includes new transparency insights

On April 25th, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted their proposed FY 2020 payment rule for hospice on the Federal Register. In our blog we summarize what you need to know such as the potential rate impact between 2019 and 2020, additions to Hospice Compare, and new “high priority” measures they are considering adding to their Hospice Quality Reporting transparency.

Hospice
August 27, 2018
SHP updates the Hospice Dashboard, including a new widget

SHP recently made improvements to the hospice portion of the Dashboard to include a new widget and two new preconfigured views that display quality measures for all of the same data types as the Hospice Scorecard, including: Provider, Case Manager, Team, Primary Diagnosis Category, and many more. Aside from the ability to group by all of our standard data types, the new widget can also be configured to report on all 22 of the HQRP and CAHPS quality measures available in our reporting.

Hospice , Product Update ,
August 02, 2018
SHP announces 2017 Best-of-the-Best winners

The annual SHPBest recognition program was created to acknowledge home health and hospice providers that consistently provide high quality service. SHP would like to congratulate the 2017 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been recognized for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2017 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
By Chris Attaya May 03, 2018
Hospice Proposed Rule has QRP Updates with no HEART

On April 28th, CMS issued the FY 2019 Hospice Payment and Quality Reporting proposed rule. Along with the typical annual payment updates, there were new proposals to the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) for consideration, but no mention of the Hospice Evaluation and Reporting Tool (HEART).

Hospice
By Chris Attaya October 05, 2017
Hospice Compare is live! Now what?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the new Hospice Compare website in August. The data shows how important it is to track and manage your performance improvement program with real-time scores. With a 9 month delay expected in Hospice Compare data, your scores today will be part of the CMS benchmark through June 2019. Hospices should evaluate their highest and lowest performers for identifying best practices and remedial training accordingly.

Hospice
July 27, 2017
SHP Announces 2016 Best-of-the-Best Winners

The annual SHPBest recognition program was created to acknowledge home health and hospice providers that consistently provide high quality service. We are pleased to announce the 2016 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been recognized for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2016 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
June 28, 2017
SHP Expands Product, Launches Hospice Scorecard Suite to Help Improve Quality of Care

Strategic Healthcare Programs (SHP) has released a new first-in-class comprehensive Hospice Scorecard Report suite. As hospice providers and their referral sources continue their focus on quality and with the upcoming public reporting of hospice scores, the need for real-time data increases. SHP’s Scorecard suite will enhance hospice customers’ capability to measure, manage and report on quality metrics.

Hospice , Product Update ,
By Chris Attaya February 09, 2017
Getting Ready for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) in 2017

2017 will be an important year for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP). CMS plans to publicly share quality scores on a Hospice Compare website starting this year. On January 18th, CMS provided a full day of training to providers in Baltimore to share information on HQRP. Along with this on-site presentation, CMS live-streamed the event online to allow as many hospices as possible to participate. Here are some of the highlights...

Hospice
By Chris Attaya September 19, 2016
SHP CAHPS® Hospice Survey Results Are In

Now that a full year of CAHPS Hospice data from the SHP database is available, we would like to share those results with you.

Hospice
By Chris Attaya May 18, 2016
CMS releases FY 2017 hospice proposed rule – Are we seeing stars yet?

The rule includes two new quality measures and a new Hospice Item Set (HIS). CMS also reported that a star rating is coming soon.

Hospice
By Chris Attaya April 14, 2016
HQRP: How hospices are scoring and what changes to expect...

To be ready for public reporting, hospices must start working now to ensure that these previously ineligible patients are meeting all applicable quality measures.

Hospice
By Chris Attaya January 12, 2016
Hospice's first significant payment change since benefit inception

January 1, 2016 marks the start of the new Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) regulation on how hospices are reimbursed.

Hospice
July 28, 2015
SHP’s Dry Run Results of CAHPS Hospice Data in Home Health Line

Home Health Line publishes article using SHP's new survey results from 15,000 surveys and over 1,000 providers.

Hospice , Company News ,
By Chris Attaya May 13, 2015
Hospice is Clearly on the Radar at CMS

For many years Hospice has been under the radar, but not anymore.

Hospice
February 25, 2015
Home Health Line Covers SHP’s Release of CAHPS Hospice Data

Home Health Line publishes article using SHP preliminary CAHPS® Hospice data.

Hospice , Company News ,
By Barbara Rosenblum January 29, 2015
SHP Releases Preliminary CAHPS Hospice Survey Benchmarks

We’re excited to be able to share the benchmarks from the first four months of CAHPS Hospice data so you can see which quality measures are getting positive results and where there is some real opportunity for improvement!

Hospice
December 29, 2014
Even after HIS’ launch, pain assessment documentation remains an issue for hospices

Home Health Line publishes article using SHP's Hospice HIS data

Hospice , Company News ,
By Barbara Rosenblum November 03, 2014
Data Show Hospices Improve 6 of 7 CMS Quality Measures

In the first three months since the implementation of the Hospice Item Set (HIS), all but one of the 7 CMS Quality Measures have improved since July 2014.

Hospice
September 08, 2014
SHP Approved for CAHPS® Hospice and Begins Survey Administration and Reporting

SHP is an approved CAHPS® Vendor and began providing survey administration for early adopters on September 1, 2014.

Hospice , Company News ,
August 08, 2014
SHP Releases Real-Time Hospice Quality Reports

SHP's new real-time Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP) reports help you get ahead of the curve and proactively intervene where improvement is in order.

Hospice , Product Update ,
July 23, 2014
SHP introduces FEHC-to-CAHPS® Hospice Crosswalk™ to help your organization!

Download SHP's detailed FEHC-to-CAHPS® Hospice Crosswalk for free

Hospice
By Barbara Rosenblum July 01, 2014
Hospice Data Tells the Real Story in Rebuttal to Recent Horror Stories

SHP's data and other studies show that hospice care reduces costs and, as evaluated by consumers, consistently provides high quality care.

Hospice
By Barbara Rosenblum May 01, 2014
Hospice Item Set – Deja Vu All Over Again?

CMS has put its final stamp of approval on the Hospice Item Set (HIS). Now you need to get your hospice ready. Here’s how.

Hospice
By Barbara Rosenblum February 05, 2014
How Hospices Will Score Under the New Hospice Item Set

Using data collected from SHP clients who are using our hospice data analysis and benchmarking solution, we were able to fairly closely approximate the HIS measures and determine how well hospices are documenting their care and processes in key areas covered by the new item set.

Hospice
August 12, 2013
SHP Releases 10th Data Interface for Hospice Home Care As CMS Moves Closer to Public Reporting

Software vendors within and outside healthcare have long recognized the importance of partnering with software solutions that meet their clients’ expanding needs. One of the key components the current and prospective clients of software vendors look for in evaluating a system is the existence of interfaces with other solutions. Vendors that commit to ensuring their clients have access to tools that meet their existing needs and will carry them into the future show vision and are the ones worthy of consideration.

Hospice , Company News ,
August 16, 2012
SHP and Delta Health Technologies Announce the Release of a Data Interface Between Their Two Systems for Hospice Providers

The interface will soon provide a similar seamless transmission of patient information used by SHP to survey families about their satisfaction with the hospice and bereavement services they received.

Hospice , Company News ,
August 08, 2012
Hospice Data Interface Between SHP and Delta Health Technologies Released

Delta hospice clients now have access to a seamless, automated connection that eliminates both manual data entry and file upload.

Hospice , Company News ,
By Barbara Rosenblum July 11, 2012
‘Hospice Compare’ – Preparing for Public Reporting

Although many agencies initially fought OASIS, most would be reluctant to give it up today and lose the valuable clinical insights gained through its use.

Hospice
By Barbara Rosenblum April 25, 2011
Using Home Health and Hospice Dashboards to Manage by Exception

With additional public reporting on the way for both home health and hospice, as well as performance-driven payment and stiffer competition, providers have to work differently than they have in the past.

Home Health , Hospice ,
By Barbara Rosenblum March 19, 2011
Why it is Critical to Identify Candidates for Hospice Referral

Too many patients are admitted in the final 72 hours of life, creating havoc and distress for patients, family members and hospice providers.

Hospice