Medicare Health Outcomes Survey

Winter 2011–2012 HOS E-Newsletter
Volume 1, Issue 1

Medicare Health Outcomes Survey

  What's New
HOS NewsOverview

This Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) e-Newsletter is the first in a series of newsletters that will be electronically distributed to users of HOS data twice a year. The goal of the e-Newsletter is to help Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) use their HOS reports and data to promote quality preventive care for the elderly, develop quality improvement strategies, and share best practices.

The e-Newsletter contains information about HOS products, services, and timelines; program updates; training program and Webinar availability; and other relevant topics. We will also share key articles about HOS in the professional literature and technical reports on new topics of interest, as well as provide information about lessons learned from the HOS Program. All issues of the HOS e-Newsletter will be available on the HOS Web site. You may send comments or suggestions regarding this e-Newsletter to hos@azqio.sdps.org. We also invite and welcome any best practices that your MAO would like to share.

Star Ratings

Results of the HOS are included as part of the Medicare Advantage (MA) Part C Five Star Ratings System, which was developed by CMS. The 2013 Star Ratings will be used by CMS as the basis for the 2014 quality bonus payments in the MA program. The physical and mental health outcome measures contained in the HOS 2009–2011 Cohort 12 Merged Baseline and Follow Up data set are incorporated into the 2013 Star Ratings that will be used for the 2014 quality bonus payments. In addition, the HEDIS Effectiveness of Care results for the 2011 measurement year, from the combined HOS Cohort 14 Baseline and the Cohort 12 Follow Up data sets, are also incorporated into the 2013 Star Ratings. For more information about the Star Ratings, visit the CMS Web site at http://www.cms.gov/PrescriptionDrugCovGenIn/06_PerformanceData.asp.

The following is a timeline that was assembled by Dr. Carl A. Serrato at Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, Inc., to help understand the timing of the 2013 quality bonus payments for the Star Ratings. It is being shared with permission from Dr. Serrato and represents what we hope will be the beginning of the sharing of best practices by MAOs.

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STAR ratings

   HOS Timelines
timelinesHOS Timelines

The 2010 Cohort 13 Baseline Reports, the 2008–2010 Cohort 11 Performance Measurement Reports, and 2010 HOS-Modified Reports are now available for each participating MAO and Quality Improvement Organization (QIO).

Data sets and accompanying Data User's Guides (DUGs) are available for HOS Cohorts 1–11 and HOS–M data sets for 2007–2010. The DUGs provide detailed documentation regarding file construction and contents for the data sets.

Your CMS Quality Point of Contact and Health Plan Management System (HPMS) users should have received an announcement through HPMS about the availability of your reports and data. If assistance is required regarding HPMS access for the reports, please contact CMS via e-mail at hpms_access@cms.hhs.gov.

Contact the HOS Team at hos@azqio.sdps.org to request data for your MAO. Following the request of many MAOs, the data will be formatted as a Comma Separated Values (CSV) file that is compatible with MS Excel.

The HOS Web site contains information about the timeline for distribution of reports and data. Please see the announcement below in the HOS Training section for a self-paced training program on using the HOS Baseline reports.

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   HOS Applications     
ApplicationsNew Primer Information

A resource is now available on the HOS Web Site to help MAOs develop and apply strategies that address the HOS items used in the CMS Medicare Advantage Part C Star Ratings.

The resource, A Guide for Medicare Advantage Organizations: Opportunities for Improving Medicare HOS Results Through Practices in Quality Preventive Health Care for the Elderly, 2012, includes a brief overview of HOS, national performance results on HOS items included in the Medicare Advantage Star Ratings system, best practices in promoting quality preventive health care for the elderly, and HOS resources available to MAOs.

Available Reports

The following are examples of HOS-related articles available on the HOS Web site:

For a full listing of HOS-related articles in the literature and technical reports, please visit the Publications Section of the HOS Web site.
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   HOS Training     
TrainingsNew Self-Paced Training Webinars Available

Two self-paced, Web-based tutorials are now available on the HOS Web site's "Real World" Uses of HOS Data Section to access at your convenience. The first tutorial is an "Introduction to the Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS)," a basic tutorial that should serve as a helpful starting point to learn about the HOS Survey and how to obtain and use your HOS reports and data sets.

The second tutorial is titled "Getting the Most from Your Medicare Health Outcomes Survey (HOS) Baseline Report." It is an intermediate-level tutorial developed to help MAOs understand how to use their HOS Baseline Reports to support quality improvement efforts.

Click here to view both of these tutorials.
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Medicare HOS Contacts  

General Questions about the Medicare HOS:
Contact Medicare HOS Information and Technical Support:
Telephone: 1-888-880-0077
E-Mail: hos@azqio.sdps.org.

Questions about the HOS Program or Policy:
Contact the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services at hos@cms.hhs.gov.

Medicare HOS Web Site
http://hosonline.org

We welcome your feedback!   Please e-mail: hos@azqio.sdps.org and let us know what you think!

To view past issues, visit http://hosonline.org

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