The National Quality Forum Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) Hospital Workgroup on Feb. 22 released a report with final recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services on performance measures under consideration for use in federal health care programs.
Performance measures lay the foundation for national pay-for-performance and public reporting programs. America’s Essential Hospitals is an organizational member of the MAP Hospital Workgroup.
The MAP Workgroup offered feedback on measures under consideration for five programs:
- End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program;
- Prospective Payment System–Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting;
- Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting;
- Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting; and
- Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting and Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Program for Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals (Meaningful Use).
The final recommendations highlight the importance of using measurement to maximize value in health care by:
- aligning measures across Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) programs, public sector payers, and private sector payers to reduce reporting burden on health systems participating in multiple CMS programs;
- engaging patients and families in efforts to improve measure harmonization and standardize implementation across programs; and
- ensuring that chosen quality measures are informed by appropriate evidence.
The MAP discussed criteria for measure removal from federal programs and proposed new considerations about unintended consequences, provider burden, risk adjustment, and consumer value.
Contact Director of Policy Erin O’Malley at eomalley@essentialhospitals.org or 202.585.0127 with questions.
