Meaningful Measures program may change reporting measures in 2019

Why This Topic Matters

Healthcare organizations need to understand CMS quality-measure priorities because they affect reporting burden, measure development, and the structure of future CMS programs. Readers following quality reporting and value-based care can use this article to gauge the direction of CMS policy and the tools CMS is using to organize measures.

Article Sections

1. Meaningful Measures overview

   Introduces the CMS initiative and its stated purpose within quality measurement and reporting programs. Summarizes the general direction of the program and the context in which it was announced.

2. CMS stakeholder feedback and measure-set goals

   Describes the feedback CMS says informed the program and the broad goal of simplifying measure sets. Covers the discussion of burden reduction and alignment across reporting programs.

3. Cross-cutting measures and program framework

   Explains the framework CMS used to organize the initiative and the broad categories it identified. Includes discussion of how the approach is intended to relate to multiple reporting programs.

4. Future implementation and CMIT

   Summarizes CMS comments about how the initiative may affect future measures and the agency’s measures inventory tool. Notes the discussion of forthcoming changes and the web-based inventory resource.

5. Provider questions and CMS response

   Covers comments from attendees about specialty relevance and CMS’s response during the question-and-answer portion. Includes the discussion of communication channels for further input.