Hospice Visits When Death is Imminent: Measure Validity Testing Summary and Re-specifications Report

The Hospice Visits When Death is Imminent (HVWDII) report analyzes a measure pair focused on visits received by hospice patients in the last days of life, specifically the last week of life. Measure 1 was found to meet the threshold for public reporting, while Measure 2 failed to reach the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) readiness standards. The purpose of this report is to share with the public the findings of the testing on HVWDII Measure 2, which led to further re-specification and measure testing toward the development of the claims-based Hospice Visits in the Last Days of Life (HVLDL) measure. The report reviews the methodology, analysis, results, and conclusions that motivated CMS to favor adoption of the HVLDL specification of the measure concept.