Hospice and Palliative Care - Pain Assessment

Identifying Attributes

Care Settings
Palliative Care
Country
United States of America
Publishing Organisation
Prepare, Embrace, Attend, Communicate, Empower (PEACE) Hospice and Palliative Care Quality Measures
Type of Quality Indicator
Process
IOM Quality Dimension
Timeliness
Domain
Physical Aspects of Care

Defining Attributes

Definition

For patients who screened positive for moderate to severe pain on admission, the percent with any physician/clinical assessment within 24 hours of screening.

Numerator

Patients who received a comprehensive clinical assessment to determine the severity, aetiology and impact of their pain within 24 hours of screening positive for pain. Patients with a comprehensive clinical assessment including at least 5 of the following 7 characteristics of the pain: location, severity, character, duration, frequency, what relieves or worsens the pain, and the effect on function or quality of life.

Denominator

Patients enrolled in hospice OR receiving palliative care who report pain when pain screening is done on the admission evaluation / initial encounter.

Exclusions

Denominator Exclusions: Patients with length of stay < 1 day in palliative care or < 7 days in hospice, patients who were not screened for pain. Patients who screen negative for pain are excluded from the denominator. Calculations required to perform denominator exclusions: length of stay= discharge date - date of initial encounter.

Use of Risk Adjustment
No
Risk Adjustments

None

Stratifications

None

Collection and Reporting Attributes

Type of Data Collection
Electronic/paper chart records
Data Collection Methods

Electronic Clinical Data; Electronic Health Record. Data collection using a structured chart abstraction tool and operational definition.

Frequency of Data Collection
Frequency of Data Collection in Days
Reporting Methods

The Level of Analysis is performed at the Clinician (Group/Practice) and Facility levels.

Reporting Frequency
Reporting Frequency in Days
Indicator Has Recommended Targets
No

Source and Reference Attributes

Evidence Source

Indicator development: Anna P. Schenck, Franziska S. Rokoske, Danielle D. Durham, John G. Cagle, and Laura C. Hanson. The PEACE Project: Identification of Quality Measures for Hospice and Palliative Care.Journal of Palliative Medicine.Dec 2010.1451-1459.http://doi.org/10.1089/jpm.2010.0238 Indicator feasbility/testing: Hanson LC, Rowe C, Wessell K, et al. Measuring palliative care quality for seriously ill hospitalized patients. J Palliat Med 2012;15(7):798-804. PEACE website: www.med.unc.edu/pcare/about-palliative-care/resources/peace-quality-measures/

Technical Specifications

Full specifications were taken from NQF documentation available here: www.med.unc.edu/pcare/wp-content/uploads/sites/503/2017/11/nqf-pain-assessment.pdf Unable to locate from PEACE program literaure. Limited specification details available in Table 2 of Hanson LC, Rowe C, Wessell K, et al. Measuring palliative care quality for seriously ill hospitalized patients. J Palliat Med 2012;15(7):798-804. PEACE website: www.med.unc.edu/pcare/about-palliative-care/resources/peace-quality-measures/

Link to Measurement Tools

Linked to NQF measure #1637.

Quality Indicator Confirmed to be Part of a Program Used to Monitor Quality and Safety of Care Among Older People at a Population-Level between 2012-2022
No
Assessed by the Australian Consortium for Aged Care Collaborators as Generally Containing Good Properties (Importance and Scientific Acceptability)
No
Australian Consortium for Aged Care Endorsed
No
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
02 December 2025