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Data Collection and Measurement

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Post CMS Inclusion Criteria
Author: rhartm01
Date: Mar 19, 2010 7:15 am
The CMS inclusion criteria for heart failure data abstraction, page 14 of the Heart Failure Data Abstraction Guide, 3.0b, includes the words Palliative care and Palliative Measures alongside the words brain death, comfort care, comfort measures, comfort measures only (CMO), comfort only, end of life care, hospice, hospice care, organ harvest and terminal care.

My concern is that many of the patients we see in our consultation service are not brain dead, having organs harvested, on comfort measures or on hospice. Yet, they are included in the CMS abstraction.

Has CAPC addressed this with CMS: that palliative care is care across a disease trajectory and not relegated to end of life care?

Replies: order by [Date] [Author] [Subject]
Re:CMS Inclusion Criteria (by jbcassel on 03/24/2010)
The reason comfort-care cases are excluded from the Joint Commission / CMS quality measures is that they have recognized that the quality metrics are not relevant for end-of-life patients. While you're certainly correct that PC does not equal EOL, there wouldn't be any grounds for excluding non-EOL PC cases where you were improving symptom management but not changing the course / goals of care for a heart failure, pneumonia, or MI patient. From this perspective there is no problem here. (I'm not speaking for CAPC, this is just my take on the matter). Let me know what you think.
- Brian Cassel, VCU Massey Cancer Center PCLC

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