Hospice and Palliative Care - Pain Screening

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
Effectiveness
Domain
Physical Aspects of Care

Defining Attributes

Definition

Percentage of hospice or palliative care patients who were screened for pain during the hospice admission evaluation / palliative care initial encounter.

Numerator

Patients who are screened for the presence or absence of pain (and if present, rating of its severity) using a standardised quantitative tool during the admission evaluation for hospice / initial encounter for palliative care. Screening may be completed using verbal, numeric, visual analogue, rating scales designed for use the non-verbal patients, or other standardised tools.

Denominator

Patients enrolled in hospice for 7 or more days OR patients receiving hospital-based palliative care for 1 or more days.

Exclusions

Denominator Exclusions: Patients with length of stay < 7 days in hospice, or < 1 day in palliative care. 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-screen.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 #1634 (endorsement status for this indicator was removed on 17 November 2021).

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
Can the Quality Indicator be Readily Implemented at a Population Level in Australia Given its Current Data Landscape?
Implementation of this quality indicator was not assessed.
Identified by PHARMA-Care Project
No
Upload Date
31 March 2026