Provider and Stakeholder Engagement

About this Page

The Provider and Stakeholder Engagement webpage is where the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posts engagement materials, upcoming opportunities, and activities. The opportunities relate to CMS’ ongoing efforts to develop new quality measures for the Hospice Quality Reporting Program (HQRP), and those using the new hospice data collection tool,  Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE).  CMS’ processes, inclusive of opportunities for engagement, follow standard guidelines for measure and instrument development, which are further described on the Quality Measure Development webpage.

Opportunities

CMS actively seeks to engage with stakeholders as it develops new quality measures, including those for HOPE. CMS aims to provide as many relevant opportunities as possible to solicit comments from the public, including but not limited to HQRP Forums, technical expert panels (TEPs), focus groups, and expert interviews. Announcements related to these stakeholder engagement opportunities will appear on the Announcements & Spotlight webpage of this website, and the full list of engagements is available on this webpage. Materials from recent HQRP Forums are available in the Downloads section below. 

In addition to the CMS HQRP website, providers can access updates by signing up for listservs pertinent to the HQRP by visiting each of the links for the listservs below:

1. Subscribe to the Post-Acute Care (PAC) QRP listserv for the latest Hospice quality reporting information including, but not limited to, training, stakeholder engagement opportunities, and general updates about reporting requirements, quality measures, and reporting deadlines.
2. MLN Connects Weekly newsletter, which contains CMS program and policy details, updates and announcements, press releases, upcoming educational event registration and reminders, claim, pricer, and code information and updates on new and revised MLN Publications. Subscribe to the weekly email newsletter.
3. QIES Technical Support Office (QTSO) webpage and email communications: Providers can access technical and program-level updates. This could include assessment submission system updates, trainings, data specification updates, report updates, or system downtimes.

Updates

January 9, 2026

Updated Information Gathering Report for Hospice Quality Reporting Program

CMS has released the Hospice Quality Reporting Program 2025 Information Gathering Report.  This report provides information from literature reviews and supports an understanding of current trends in hospice care. It includes findings related to hospice use, hospice care delivery, and caregiver support.

The updated Information Gathering Report is available in the downloads section of the Provider and Stakeholder Engagement webpage.