VALIDATION UTILITY TOOL (for HOSPICE 1.0 ASSESSMENTS)

(Updated 07/27/2020)

The file SetupHOSPICEVUT.zip allows users to install the HOSPICE Validation Utility Tool.

For assistance with this download, please contact the QTSO Help Desk using the following information:
 
E-Mail: iqies@cms.hhs.gov
Phone: (800)339-9313
Fax: (888)477-7871


The HOSPICE Validation Utility Tool (VUT) is a software utility that can be used to validate HOSPICE 1.0 submission files in XML format.  The VUT attempts to enforce the edits that are mapped to the HOSPICE items, as published in the HOSPICE 1.0 Data Specifications.  The initial VUT release incorporated the V1.00.1 Specifications.  For those who used the 04/18/2014 release, the following changes were made in that version:

1) The VUT will now enforce the following rule for edit -3025:  if the record is a modification or inactivation, CRCTN_NUM cannot be 00.  This is all the VUT can report, as it does not have access to prior versions of a record.  

2) A bug was found in the format edit -3022.  “A valid non-blank item must be submitted.”  Nulls were being reported, but not blank strings.  This has been fixed.

3) For edit -3062, the message reported from the VUT was as follows:  If J0900C=[1,2,3,9], then all active items J0900D through J0910C9 must not equal [^].  J0910C9 should be J0910A in the message.  This has been fixed.

4) Edit -3063 was not correctly processing the date relationships between A0220 and (F2000B, F2100B, F2200B).  The edit has been fixed.

5) The HospiceVUT.exe was generating temporary files upon each utilization.  A different wrapper utility is now being used to generate HospiceVUT.exe from HospiceVUT.jar.  The resulting EXE is not generating the temporary files.

The second VUT release incorporated the V1.01.0 specifications, including the errata changes.  In addition, a new command-line parameter, NOSETUP, was added to allow users of listener mode to bypass the VUT UI screen (using the parameters established in VUT.XML).

The third VUT release incorporates the V1.02.0 specifications.

The fourth VUT release incorporates the v2.00.0 specifications.

The fifth VUT release incorporates the v2.01.1 specifications.

The sixth VUT release incorporates the v2.02.1 specifications.

The seventh VUT release incorporates the changes in the v2.02.2 errata.  It also introduces warning edit -V009, which indicates that the assessment being processed has a target date that is older than the current date by 24 months or more...and therefore should not be submitted to ASAP.

The eighth VUT release incorporates the v3.00.0 specifications.


INSTALLATION AND SETUP

To install the software, run SetupHOSPICEVUT.exe.  By default, the VUT will be installed to C:\Program Files\HOSPICE Validation Utility Tool.  A HOSPICE Validation Utility Group program group will be created under Start Menu->Programs, and a shortcut will be created for the Windows Desktop.

The VUT can be run in two different modes:  Listener and Command-Line.

LISTENER MODE

If no parameters are supplied to the VUT executable, the VUT operates in Listener mode.  In this mode, the VUT monitors the files available in a user-specified directory, detects if there are XML files to be validated, then processes them and writes the results to a user-specified output directory.  

After starting the VUT, a single screen is presented to the user, allowing the input and output directories to be specified.  In addition, the user can specify how long the VUT should sleep (i.e., wait) before checking the input directory for additional XML files to process.  This feature  can enhance the performance of the host PC, so that the VUT is not constantly processing.

Note that, by default, the input directory is a subdirectory "Assessments" under the VUT installation directory, and the output directory is a subdirectory "Results" under the VUT installation directory.  If these are the desired directories, then the user will need read/write permissions to these directories.

Also note that the results filename is the same name as the input filename, but with "_results" appended to the filename.  For example, if the VUT processes "test.xml", then the validation results are written to "test_results.xml"

After specifying the directories and the sleep time, press the Go! button to begin assessment processing.  Initially, the VUT needs to load the HOSPICE specifications into memory for use in checking the assessments - this will take a few seconds, and a message indicating that the specifications are loading appears in the VUT screen status bar.  Then the VUT will search the input directory for XML files that do not already have a corresponding results XML file in the output directory. For example, if "test.xml" and "test2.xml" are present in the input directory, and "test_results.xml" is already present in the output directory, the VUT will process only "test2.xml" and produce a "test2_results.xml".

After processing the files in the input directory, the VUT will sleep in accordance with the amount of time specified on the VUT screen.  The user can see when the VUT will make its next check by seeing the scheduled time displayed in the VUT status bar.

The VUT can be stopped from further processing by clicking the Cancel button.  The VUT can be unloaded from memory by clicking the X button in the top right-hand corner.

NEW!!!  A new parameter, NOSETUP, was added to bypass the VUT screen for listener mode.  Launch the VUT using "HOSPICEVUT NOSETUP" and the VUT will use the parameters in VUT.XML.

COMMAND-LINE MODE

The VUT can also be used to process a single assessment XML file without remaining in memory.  Two parameters must be specified:  the path/filename of the input file and the path where the output file should be written.  For example, if a command line window is opened to the VUT installation directory, then executing the command

HOSPICEVUT C:\test.xml C:\temp

will write the results file "C:\temp\test_results.xml"

Note that in command-line mode, since the VUT does not stay in memory, it must load the HOSPICE specifications into memory each time it is executed.  Therefore, it will be slower to generate the results file in comparison to listener mode.
