A special one-hour, web-based open door forum will be held May 7 to explain to providers the new set of star ratings for the Home Health Compare website, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced. The May 7 forum should provide an important opportunity for nursing home operators looking to better manage and forge new relationships with home health providers.

CMS will use Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) survey results to create Patient Survey Star Ratings for the Home Health Compare website.

Scheduled for 1:30-2:30 p.m. EST, the forum will describe the rationale and overview of the patient survey star ratings. All information about the patient survey star ratings is posted on the HHCAHPS website.

The Patient Survey Star Ratings will be published on Home Health Compare in January 2016. The HHC Star Rating, which will begin in July 2015, will be renamed “Quality of Patient Care Star Rating” in order to distinguish the star rating based on OASIS assessments and claims data from the new patient survey star ratings, CMS said.