CMS issues 35 core healthcare quality measures
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According to the Jan. 4 final notice in the Federal Register, the measures are for voluntary use by state programs administered under Title XIX of the Social Security Act, health insurance issuers and managed care entities that enter into contracts with Medicaid, and providers of items and services under these programs.
The 35 measures were voted upon from 51 original measures identified through public comment. “States that chose to collect the initial core set will be better positioned to measure their performance and develop action plans to achieve the three-part aim of better care, healthier people and affordable care as identified in the Department of Health and Human Services' National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care,” the notice stated.
The Medicaid Adult Quality Measures Program will be rolled out by CMS throughout the year and will “focus on developing and refining measures, where needed, so that future updates to the initial core set can meet a wider range of states’ healthcare quality measurement needs.” CMS also will release technical specifications as a resource for states by September.
In addition to the requirements listed above, the Secretary of HHS Kathleen Sebelius also will be required to develop a standard process for reporting quality measures by Jan. 1, 2013, annually publish recommended changes to the initial core set beginning by Jan. 1, 2014, provide progress reports to Congress every three years beginning by Jan. 1, 2014 and make information reported by states publicly available by Sept. 30, 2014.
CMS will issue guidance for submitting the initial core set to CMS in a standardized format by Jan.1, 2013.
The final notice and the initial core set of quality measures is available here.