Dive Brief:
- CMS has followed up with a final version of its draft Quality Measure Development Plan, which was released in December 2015.
- The plan provides a framework for the development of quality measures that will be used to support the new Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and advanced alternative payment models (APMs).
- CMS took comments through March 1 from 60 individuals and 150 organizations, and considered the feedback in finalization of the plan, Kate Goodrich, MD, director, Center for Clinical Standards & Quality wrote in a Monday CMS blog post.
Dive Insight:
As CMS notes, the Quality Measure Development Plan will serve an integral role in the transition to value-based care and supporting the quality payment programs under MACRA.
Highlights of the finalized plan include:
- Identifying measurement and performance gaps and closing them through quality measures in all six quality domains of clinical care, safety, care coordination, patient and caregiver experience, population health and prevention and affordable care.
- Improving the alignment of measures, including the Core Quality Measures Collaborative, which recently marked the first multi-payer collaboration and support on core measures for physician quality programs.
- Partnering with clinicians and professional societies to reduce the administrative burdens of quality measurement.
- Incorporating input from patients and caregivers throughout measure development.
- Increasing coordination among federal agencies and other stakeholders to reduce duplication of effort and promote person-centered healthcare.
The authors wrote CMS will carefully balance the need for focused specialty measure development with the need for more broad measures, resulting in system reform that furthers "the aims of better care, smarter spending, and healthier people."