CMS Hospice Reporting Transition: Key 2026 Dates Providers Should Prepare For
As CMS continues transitioning from the Hospice Item Set (HIS) submitted through QIES to the Hospice Outcomes and Patient Evaluation (HOPE) tool submitted through iQIES, hospice providers should prepare for several reporting and system access changes taking effect in early 2026.
At Simple, we closely monitor regulatory transitions that affect compliance, reporting workflows, and reimbursement processes so providers can prepare with clarity and confidence. The upcoming deadlines outlined below will impact how hospice organizations submit data and access quality reporting information.
Key Transition Dates
February 16, 2026 – HIS Submissions End
Beginning February 16, CMS will no longer accept HIS records. Providers must continue submitting HOPE records through iQIES.
On this same date, user-requested Hospice Final Validation Reports (FVRs) will no longer be available in CASPER (QIES). Any Hospice Provider reports or FVRs needed after this date must be requested directly through iQIES.
February 23, 2026 – Review and Correct Reports Move to iQIES
The Hospice Review and Correct report will no longer be accessible in CASPER after February 23.
In iQIES, Review and Correct reports will support both HIS and HOPE data and include measure results for complete stays beginning with Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 (10/01/2023) forward.
Providers needing reports from older reporting periods should generate and download them from CASPER before this date.
March 15, 2026 – Quality Measure Reports Transition
Effective March 15, Hospice Quality Measure (QM) reports will no longer be available in CASPER and must be requested through iQIES.
The iQIES QM reports will include:
- HIS data with measure results for complete stays beginning FY 2024 (10/01/2023) forward.
- HOPE data beginning FY 2026 (10/01/2025) forward
Providers should download any historical QM reports from CASPER prior to this deadline if future access is required.
Additional Transition Milestones
- The February 2026 Hospice Provider Preview reports and Hospice CAHPS Preview reports (supporting the May 2026 refresh) will be the final preview reports distributed through CASPER/QIES and will remain available for 60 days.
- Beginning May 2026, Hospice Provider Preview reports and Hospice CAHPS Preview reports (supporting the August 2026 refresh) will be distributed through iQIES and will remain available for 60 days.
- Hospice APU Non-compliance Notification letters for FY 2027 (based on CY 2025 data submission) will be distributed through iQIES.
What This Means for Hospice Providers
- HIS submission workflows should be fully retired and replaced with HOPE processes in iQIES.
- Historical reports stored in CASPER will no longer be accessible after transition deadlines.
- Quality, compliance, and billing teams must be comfortable retrieving reports within iQIES.
- Organizations that rely on archived reports for benchmarking or audit documentation should download needed files before access is removed.
- Internal policies referencing CASPER reporting may need to be updated.
What Providers Should Do Now
- Confirm your organization is fully operational within iQIES for HOPE submissions.
- Review and validate iQIES user roles and access permissions.
- Identify and download any needed historical FVR, Review and Correct, or QM reports from CASPER.
- Train quality and compliance staff on report retrieval in iQIES.
- Monitor CMS communications for additional transition updates.
Resources
How Simple Supports Providers
As CMS modernizes hospice reporting infrastructure, operational workflows and access points continue to shift. We offer a solution called SimpleConnect™ that streamlines reporting processes by giving providers the ability to transmit and request reports without relying on direct iQIES access. Simple also provides ongoing education and webinars around regulatory updates.