HOS
HOS stands for Health Outcomes Survey (HOS). This is the first patient-reported outcomes measure used in Medicare Coordinated Care.
HOS objective is to gather valid, reliable and meaningful health status data from the Medicare Advantage (MA) program.
Your HOS scores are triple-weighted as well.
There are 12 questions about ADLs (Activities of Daily Living) & health status, such as the ability to move, memory loss & urinary continence. These are significant independence drivers, societal cost, & individual quality of life. Therefore, these are indicators of the value of your work to our society. Studies continue to show that HOS scores are better in Medicare Advantage than in "straight" or original (Fee for Service) Medicare.
This information is important to improve activities, pay for performance, program oversight, public reporting, and health results. It is required for every managed care organization with Medicare contracts; and is administered annually to a random sample of patients; the sample is obtained from each participating MA plan. These patients get surveyed again.
So, like it or not, your performance & contribution are being measured in our new Fee for Value world. & your compensation & quality of life will reflect those scores. Your quality of life, time with your family, & your compensation are too important to give away to a local hospital. Hospital priorities do not include you, your family, or your patients' preventive medicine concerns.
Yet, unfortunately, upon retirement, most community physicians release their patients' health (& their hard-earned financial value from their patient panel) back to the local hospital.
1.Timbie JW, Bogart A, Damberg CL, Elliott MN, Haas A, Gaillot SJ, Goldstein EH, Paddock SM. Medicare Advantage and Fee-for-Service Performance on Clinical Quality and Patient Experience Measures: Comparisons from Three Large States. Health Serv Res. 2017 Dec;52(6):2038-2060. doi: 10.1111/1475-6773.12787. PMID: 29130269; PMCID: PMC5682140https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5682140/
2. King, R. Medicare Advantage plans achieve better outcomes than traditional Medicare, BMA analysis finds. Fierce Healthcare Dec, 2020.
3. Ayanian, J. Z. , Landon B. E., Zaslavsky A. M., Saunders R. C., Pawlson L. G., and Newhouse J. P.. 2013. "Medicare Beneficiaries More Likely to Receive Appropriate Ambulatory Services in HMOs Than in Traditional Medicare." Health Affairs (Millwood) 32 (7): 1228–35.
4. Elliott, M. N. , Landon B. E., Zaslavsky A. M., Edwards C., Orr N., Beckett M. K., Mallett J., and Cleary P. D.. 2016. "Medicare Prescription Drug Plan Enrollees Report Less Positive Experiences Than Their Medicare Advantage Counterparts." Health Affairs (Millwood) 35 (3): 456–63.
5. Gold, M. , and Casillas G.. 2014. "What Do We Know about Health Care Access and Quality in Medicare Advantage Versus the Traditional Medicare Program?" https://www.kff.org/medicare/report/what-do-we-know-about-health-care-access-and-quality-in-medicare-advantage-versus-the-traditional-medicare-program/
6. Keenan, P. S. , Elliott M. N., Cleary P. D., Zaslavsky A. M., and Landon B. E.. 2009. "Quality Assessments by Sick and Healthy Beneficiaries in Traditional Medicare and Medicare Managed Care."
7. Landon, B. E. , Zaslavsky A. M., Bernard S. L., Cioffi M. J., and Cleary P. D.. 2004. "Comparison of Performance of Traditional Medicare vs Medicare Managed Care." Journal of the American Medical Association 291 (14): 1744–52.
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