CMS Contracts for Quality Assurance Metric Development on Inpatient Facilities Discharge to HCBS

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with the Lewin Group to develop a metric for measuring the quality of Home and Community Based Services Measures Development, Endorsement, Maintenance, and Alignment. The project focuses on Discharge from Inpatient Facilities to Home-Based Settings for Medicaid Participants and aims to obtain feedback from a broad range of stakeholders on the proposed measure prior to implementation of the measurement.

The project is crucial for assessing and improving the quality of care for Medicaid participants. The measurement’s data elements will ensure that Medicaid participants receive high-quality care when transitioning from inpatient facilities to home-based settings. The measure’s potential exclusions will also ensure that the measure is only applied when relevant to the care provided.

As part of its measurement’s development process, the Lewin Group has opened a Call for Public Comment period, which runs from April 24, 2023, to May 24, 2023. The public comment solicitation invites input on the draft measure concept, including its potential importance, face validity, feasibility, usability, data elements, measure exclusions, and potential unintended consequences of its implementation.

The feedback received from the public comment period will assist the Levin Group in identifying areas of improvement for the measure concept and provide insights into stakeholders’ general reactions to the topic proposed for measurement, as well as for its implementation. All parties can send their comments to [email protected].