HOPE Tool

Effective October 1st, 2025

HOPE (Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation):

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the new patient assessment tool to replace the Hospice item Set (HIS) as part of the HQRP. HOPE was finalized in the in the FY 2025 Hospice Wage Index Final Rule (CMS-1810-F).  To access the FY2025 Hospice Final Rule, use this link: Hospice Final Rule: Hospice Regulations and Notices | CMS.

HOPE will provide assessment-based quality data to enhance the HQRP through standardized data collection, provide a better understanding of patient care needs, contribute to the patient’s plan of care, and provide additional clinical data that could inform future payment refinements. CMS retained key items from the HIS in HOPE v1.0 and will continue to collect information to inform the Comprehensive Assessment at Admission (CBE #3235) while gathering additional data to support new quality measures. 

Objectives of HOPE

CMS finalized two HOPE-based quality measures. Additional quality measures may be developed in the future based on data elements added to future versions of the tool. More information about the development of quality measures can be found on the Quality Measure Development page. 

HOPE is expected to provide hospices with information to help them identify opportunities to adjust their practices and improve patient- and agency-level decisions about the care they provide. Furthermore, patients and their families will be more informed about the hospice they choose based on potential public reporting of the HOPE assessment-based quality measures.