Public Health Emergency and Hospice

The end of the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency on May 11^th requires hospice organizations to examine their current practices.  The waivers and flexibilities put into place to ease burdens on hospices will be coming to an end.  To avoid survey deficiencies, it’s important to know when compliance to the affected Conditions of Participation is expected.  A case in point is §418.78(e) regarding volunteers’ level of activity.  It is expected that hospices will return to pre-PHE requirements by the end of 2023.  This standard requires volunteers to “…provide day-to-day administrative and/or direct patient care services in an amount that, at minimum, equals 5% of the total patient care hours of all paid hospice employees and contract staff.”  This may present a challenge to hospices who have had difficulty procuring volunteers during the pandemic.  In a webinar hosted by the National Association of Home Care and Hospice last week, Katie Wehri—Director of Home Care and Hospice Regulatory Affairs—stated hospices who are unable to fully comply should document their efforts to meet the standard.  CMS has published a document to guide hospices through the transition. It is expected that further clarification will be published by CMS in the next few weeks.  Keep an eye open for additional information.