HOPE Guidance Manual v1.02, § 3.7

Hospices should correct any errors necessary to ensure the information accurately reflects the patient’s hospice

record. Inaccurate information in the system may affect hospice quality reporting results. A HOPE record may

be corrected even if subsequent records have been accepted for the patient.

An error identified in a HOPE record must be corrected. Inaccuracies can occur for a variety of reasons, such as

transcription errors, data entry errors, software product errors, item response selection errors, or other errors.

The following two processes exist for correcting HOPE records that have been accepted into the CMS system:

• Modification Request

• Inactivation Request

Completion of a Modification Request record will archive the inaccurate HOPE record and replace the record

with the new, corrected record. Completion of an Inactivation Request will also archive an inaccurate HOPE

record but will not replace the record with the new record.

We recommend that hospices retain a copy of submitted HOPE records, along with any corrected versions, to

track what was modified. In addition, it is suggested that the hospice keep a copy of inactivated records. Copies

of HOPE records can be maintained in electronic format. For more details on maintenance of HOPE records,

see Chapter 1.

3.7.1. Modification Requests

A

Modification Request record (A0050 = 2) is used when a HOPE record is accepted by CMS but the

information in the record contains clinical or non-key demographic errors. However, there are items that cannot

be corrected with a Modification Request; rather, the invalid record must be inactivated with an Inactivation

Request record or manually deleted, and a new record submitted to the CMS system.

Items that cannot be corrected with a Modification Request are:

Record Event Identifiers:

• A0220: Admission Date (on an Admission record A0250 = 1)

• A0250: Reason for Record

• A0270: Discharge Date (on a Discharge record A0250 = 9)

• Z0350: Date Assessment was Completed (for HUV records A0250 = 2 or 3)

Patient Identifier:

• A0500A: First Name

• A0500C: Last Name

• A0600A: Social Security Number (SSN)

• A0810: Sex

• A0900: Birth Date

Note: To make record event identifier and/or patient identifier corrections, you must complete an Inactivation

Request record for the incorrect record and create a new record with the correct information. Refer to

Inactivation Requests below.

When an error is discovered (except for those items listed in the preceding bullets) in a HOPE record, the

provider must submit a Modification Request record (A0050 = 2) to CMS. When completing a Modification

Request record, the Modification Request record must contain correct values for all items. This means if A0050

= 2, the provider should proceed to A0100, Facility Provider Numbers, and complete all items in all other

HOPE record sections.

Note: In the case of a Modification or Inactivation Request, Z0500B should contain the original date on which

the record was completed. Do not change Z0500B unless the date in Z0500B in the original record was

incorrect and the modification request is to correct the date in Z0500B.

Note: File creation software varies on how Modification Request records are created. Please contact your

software vendor for specific instructions.

When a Modification Request record (A0050 = 2) is submitted, CMS will process the record as follows:

1. The system will attempt to locate the existing record in the system’s database for the hospice using

specific identifiers:

• Last name

• First name

• SSN

• Birth date

• Sex

• Facility identifier (facility and state code)

• Event identifiers (for example, the reason for record, and the admission, discharge, or HUV completion

date)

2. If the existing record is not found, the submitted Modification Request record will be rejected and not

accepted by CMS. A fatal error will be reported to the hospice on the FVR.

3. If the existing record is found, then the system performs a series of validation edits to evaluate whether

the data submitted meets the required data specifications. HOPE records are edited to verify that clinical

responses are within valid ranges and are consistent with other items in the record, dates are reasonable,

and the submitted record is in the proper order with regard to the records that were previously accepted

by CMS for the same patient. If there are any fatal errors, the Modification Request record will be

rejected and not accepted. The fatal error(s) will be reported to the hospice on the FVR.

4. If the Modification Request record passes all the edits, it will replace the prior erroneous record in the

CMS system. The prior erroneous record will be stored in an archive file within the CMS database.

3.7.2. Inactivation Requests

An Inactivation Request record (A0050 = 3) must be used when a record has been accepted but the

corresponding event did not occur (for example, a Discharge record was submitted for a patient, but there was

no actual discharge) or when an error is found with one or more of the event identifiers or patient identifiers.

An Inactivation Request (A0050 = 3) must be completed when any of the following items are inaccurate.

Record Event Identifiers:

• A0220: Admission Date (on an Admission record A0250 = 01)

• A0250: Reason for Record

• A0270: Discharge Date (on a Discharge record A0250 = 09)

• Z0350: Date Assessment was Completed (for HUV records A0250 = 2 or 3)

Patient Identifier:

• A0500A: First Name

• A0500C: Last Name

• A0600: Social Security Number (SSN)

• A0810: Sex

• A0900: Birth Date

Note: Any item in the previous list that was submitted as part of the original record must also be submitted as

part of the Inactivation Request, and values for each item must match in the erroneous record and the

inactivation record. For example, if A0600A, Social Security Number, was left blank on the original record, it

should be left blank on the inactivation record.

If an Admission Date (A0220), Reason for Record (A0250), Discharge Date (A0270), or HUV completion date

(Z0350) is incorrect, or if one or more patient identifiers are found to be in error, the provider must inactivate

the record, and then complete and submit a new HOPE record with the correct event and/or patient identifiers

and ensure that the clinical information is accurate.

Note: For an inactivation of an Admission record, the Discharge Date (A0270) will be blank.

When an Inactivation Request record (A0050 = 3) is submitted, the system will process the record as follows:

1. The system will attempt to locate the existing record in the database for this hospice using specific

identifiers:

• Last name

• First name

• SSN

• Birth date

• Sex

• Facility identifier (facility and state code)

• Event identifiers (for example, the reason for record and admission, discharge, or HUV completion

date)

2. If the existing record is not found in the database, the submitted Inactivation Request record will be

rejected, and a fatal error will be reported to the hospice on the FVR.

3. If the existing record is found, the erroneous record will be removed from the active records in the

database and stored in an archive file within the database.