What's New on the Medicare HOS

General Updates

• New Semi-annual HOS Electronic(e)-Newsletter Available on the Website.
  The Winter 2011-2012 HOS e-Newsletter was launched in January 2012. The e-Newsletter is distributed to users of HOS data twice a year and posted on the HOS website. The e-Newsletter contains information about HOS products, services and timelines; program updates; and availability of new self-paced training programs. You may contact the HOS Information and Technical Support e-mail (hos@azqio.sdps.org) to sign up for the e-mail distribution.
• 2012 HOS Survey Administration Information Available. Information about the 2012 Survey Administration for the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey and Medicare Health Outcomes Survey-Modified, including the Medicare contracts required to participate and the survey vendor list, may be found on the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) website.

  Click here to go to NCQA's website for more information

• New Self-Paced Training Webinar Available on the HOS Website.
  The second of a series of self-paced training webinars is available on the HOS website. The webinar entitled “Getting the Most from Your Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) Baseline Report” is an intermediate level training session that builds on information from the basic introductory tutorial. The session discusses how to maximize the use of the HOS baseline report to provide information on the health of beneficiaries and to develop chronic care improvement programs (CCIPs). The first webinar in the series entitled “Introduction to the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS)” is a basic training session that is appropriate for Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) that are new to the HOS or those who want to obtain an overview of the kinds of information that the HOS provides about the health of beneficiaries. In addition, the introductory training program provides some practical guidance about how to obtain HOS reports and data. The training programs may be accessed at any time at the convenience of the user. To access the webinars, go to the Real World Uses section of the website.
• 2008-2010 Cohort 11 Analytic Public Use File Available. The Public Use File (PUF) and associated code to produce a SAS dataset may be downloaded from the Research Data Files section. The Data User's Guide may be downloaded from the Data User's Guide section.
• 2008-2010 Cohort 11 Performance Measurement Data Distributed. The state-level data and Data User’s Guide (DUG) were distributed to the Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) via the CMS QualityNet Application on November 10, 2011. The Medicare Advantage Organization (MAO) data and DUG were available for MAOs to request following the Health Plan Management System (HPMS) announcement by CMS on November 4, 2011. Participating MAOs may obtain their data by contacting the Medicare HOS Information and Technical Support e-mail (hos@azqio.sdps.org). The Cohort 11 Performance Measurement DUG may also be downloaded from the Data User’s Guide section.
• 2010 Cohort 13 Baseline Public Use File Available. The Public Use File (PUF) may be downloaded from the Research Data Files section. The Data User's Guide may be downloaded from the Data User's Guide section.
• Opportunities for Improving Medicare HOS Results through Practices in Quality Preventive Health Care for the Elderly (PDF, 1.2 MB) 2011.
  This guide is a resource to help Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) develop and apply strategies that address the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) items used in the CMS Medicare Advantage Part C Star Ratings. The guide includes an overview of HOS, national performance results on HOS items included in the Medicare Star Ratings system, best practices in promoting quality preventive health care for the elderly, and HOS resources available to MAOs. Section 1 discusses the prevalence of conditions measured by the HOS items and provides a summary of national HOS results to highlight opportunities for improvement and intervention strategies. Section 2 provides examples of interventions that some MAOs have used to promote patient-physician communication, screening services or maintenance of functional status among their members.
• Functional Status in Older Adults: Intervention Strategies for Impacting Patient Outcomes (PDF, 1.2 MB) 2011.
  This literature review is a synthesis of selected articles of functional status outcomes in older adults and is designed to supplement the guide for MAOs entitled, “Opportunities for Improving Medicare HOS Results through Practices in Quality Preventive Health Care for the Elderly.” The included outcomes target short form assessments of health that span the physical to psychological from well established questionnaires. In addition, outcome measures include activities of daily living that capture functional limitations in Medicare Advantage recipients. The articles were selected from the vantage point of interventions that could impact on the functional status outcomes in elderly populations. The HOS includes the Veterans RAND 12 Item Health Survey (VR-12) as the core measure for the physical (PCS) and mental (MCS) summary scores. It also includes HEDIS^® Effectiveness of Care Measures for Management of Urinary Incontinence in Older Adults, Physical Activity in Older Adults, Fall Risk Management and Osteoporosis Testing in Older Women.
• Medicare HOS Results Included in the CMS MA Part C Star Ratings System.
  Results of the HOS survey are included as part of the Medicare Advantage (MA) Part C Five Star Ratings System that was developed by CMS. As part of the Affordable Care Act, CMS is rating the relative quality of service of MAOs and rewarding high performing plans. The star rating system helps Medicare beneficiaries compare MA plans, helps educate consumers on quality, and makes quality data more transparent and comparable between plans. Up to 53 quality measures are included in the ratings, including success in providing preventive services, managing chronic illness, access to care, Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®), the MA & Part D Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS^®) survey, and responsiveness. Five HOS measures are included in the Part C Star Ratings System:
  
  
  • Improving or Maintaining Physical Health
  • Improving or Maintaining Mental Health
  • Monitoring physical activity
  • Improving bladder control
  • Reducing the risk of falling
  The 2012 MA Part C Star Ratings will be used by CMS as the basis for quality bonus payments in the MA program in the 2013 quality bonus payment year. The HOS 2008-2010 Cohort 11 Merged Baseline and Follow Up dataset is used to derive functional health status measures and the combined HOS 2010 Cohort 11 Follow Up and 2010 Cohort 13 Baseline dataset is used to derive the 2010 HEDIS Effectiveness of Care measures that are incorporated into the 2012 Star Ratings used for the 2013 quality bonus payments. Note that beginning with the 2012 Part C Star Ratings, the Osteoporosis Testing in Older Women measure has been retired. Information about the specific HOS cohorts used in the annual Part C Star Ratings is available in the Medicare HOS Survey Administration Timeline table on the Program Overview section. For more information about the Part C Star Ratings go to the CMS website at www.cms.gov/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/06_PerformanceData.asp. For any questions related to Part C MA Star Ratings, you may send an e-mail inquiry directly to PartCRatings@cms.hhs.gov. Part D MA Star Rating questions may be sent to PartDRatings@cms.hhs.gov.
• Availability of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) SEER-MHOS Linked Data Set.
  CMS is pleased to announce the availability of the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) and the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (MHOS) linked data sets. The linked data set is a surveillance data set that links data on cancer patients to patient-reported outcome measures and provides researchers with the potential to investigate the health status and health related quality of life of older adults enrolled in Medicare Advantage Organizations with and without a cancer diagnosis. The SEER-MHOS linked data sets available now include data collected during the years of 1998-2005. The HOS data are from baseline and follow up surveys for Cohorts 1-6 collected during the same time period. For researchers who are interested in using this linked data in their investigations, please go to the following website for information:

  http://outcomes.cancer.gov/surveys/seer-mhos

HOS Partner Updates

• Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
  • overseeing 2011 Round 14 data cleaning (Cohort 14 Baseline, Cohort 12 Follow Up, and 2011 HOS-M)
  • overseeing 2010 Round 13 data dissemination (Cohort 13 Baseline, Cohort 11 Follow Up, and 2010 HOS-M)
  • overseeing preparation for 2012 Round 15 data collection
  
  
• Center for the Assessment of Pharmaceutical Practices at the Boston University School of Public Health (Formerly Health Outcomes Technology Program [HOT])
  • completed a study and submitted a paper for publication examining quality of care among the Medicare Advantage Organizations using Medicare Part D data as a proxy for quality and its association with outcomes based upon the VR-12 physical and mental health summary scores
  
  
• Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG)
  • preparing the 2011 HOS-M reports for distribution to the participating PACE Organizations and the 2011 Cohort 14 Baseline reports for distribution to the participating MAOs
  • preparing 2011 Round 14 datasets for report production (HOS Cohort 14 Baseline, HOS Cohort 12 Performance Measurement, and 2011 HOS-M)
  • currently distributing Performance Measurement data for Cohorts 1 through 11 to the participating MAOs who request their data
  • currently distributing 2007 through 2010 HOS-M data to the participating PACE Organizations who request their data


• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
  • posted information for MA plans on 2012 reporting requirements on NCQA’s website at http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/446/Default.aspx
  • HEDIS 2011 Volume 6 Specifications for the Medicare Health Outcome Survey manual is available for purchase. Call NCQA Customer Support at 1-888-275-7585 to order.
  • preparing for the fielding of the 2012 Round 15 HOS (2012 Cohort 15 Baseline, 2012 Cohort 13 Follow Up, and 2012 HOS-Modified) during April-July 2012
  
  
• RTI International, Social Policy, Health, and Economics Research Unit (RTI)
  • currently designing the sampling plan for the 2012 Cohort 15 Baseline and Cohort 13 Follow Up surveys