The Ohio Experience: Hospice Service & Spending Variation Index (SSVI)
As mentioned in a previous post (Service & Spending Variation Index (SSVI): A New Window on Hospice Performance), the Hospice SSVI identifies hospices whose care patterns and non-hospice Medicare spending differ from national norms.
Why Ohio Hospice Agencies Should Take a Closer Look
Close to half of Ohio Hospice agencies have a Total SSVI score of 8 or more with scores across the state ranging from 1 to 12. Overall, Ohio Hospice skew slightly higher than national norms on the Total SSVI Score.
While Non-Hospice Spending is the primary driver of the Total SSVI Score, the majority of Ohio hospice agencies also receive points on two or more utilization metrics.
Utilization Metrics are in Your Control
The operational patterns reflected in SSVI represent many of the fundamentals for strong hospice care and compliance. In Ohio, two utilization metrics stand out as areas where a significant number of agencies fall outside national norms.
1. Routine Home Care (RHC) days in Nursing Facility or Skilled Nursing Facility (NF/SNF): Roughly one quarter of Ohio Hospice agencies have more than 40% of their RHC Days in the NF/SNF environment.
2. Live Discharges Followed by Readmission to the Same Hospice: Roughly one quarter of Ohio Hospice agencies have live discharges with a hospice readmission of more than 15%.
What Should Hospice Leaders Be Monitoring?
Organizations that routinely monitor these trends will be better prepared to understand and explain their performance, identify opportunities for improvement, and adapt as CMS continues expanding the use of claims-based analytics.
Referral Sources and Place of Service: Are you serving the whole community, or are your referrals concentrated among a limited number of SNF/NF partners? Over-reliance on these institutions for referrals will naturally result in a higher percent of Routine Hospice Care days in the SNF/NF, and could spark increased CMS scrutiny.
Admission and Live Discharges: What is your overall live discharge rate? What patterns are you seeing in admissions, discharges, and subsequent readmissions? Strong admission practices and clear documentation of live discharge decisions can help ensure that utilization patterns appropriately reflect patient needs and hospice eligibility.
Berg Data Subscribers can benchmark their agency’s SSVI performance alongside market peers and explore related utilization metrics to drive improvements. To learn more about key trends in your community of service, contact Berg Data Solutions at:
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