CMS Finalizes Quality Measure Development Plan

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released their final Quality Measure Development Plan on Monday, May 2, 2016. The Quality Measure Development Plan provides a strategic framework for the development of quality measures under the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Alternative Payment Models (APMs) programs, as required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).

The Quality Measure Development Plan prioritizes the following:

• Identification of known measurement and performance gaps and prioritizes approaches to close those gaps
• Alignment of measures to reduce duplication and reporting burden
• Collaboration with key stakeholders (e.g., frontline clinicians, professional societies, patients, caregivers) during the measure development process to ensure measures are meaningful, applicable, and useful across payers and health care settings 

CMS is required to update this plan on an annual basis. ASA provided general comments on the DRAFT plan on March 1, 2016. Stay updated on MACRA by visiting the ASA MACRA webpages.

For additional information, please contact the ASA Department of Quality and Regulatory Affairs (QRA) at [email protected] or 202-289-2222.