CMS Seeks Members for Expert Panels to Develop New Quality Measures - February 9, 2011

The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks members for two technical expert panels (TEP) to provide input about new quality measures. One TEP will develop a hospital-level all-cause readmission measure that reflects the quality of care for patients undergoing vascular procedures, while a second TEP will develop two outcomes measures for patients hospitalized with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

These measures will be developed using Medicare administrative claims data and will be designed for potential use in public reporting and care improvement/readmissions reduction projects. Both projects seek to enhance CMS’ existing quality measurement system by developing hospital-level, risk-adjusted outcome measures for patients.

Potential participants for TEP should have the following experience and expertise:

• Topic content specific to vascular procedures (e.g., vascular surgeons, interventional radiologists, and interventional cardiologists) or COPD care (e.g., pulmonologists);
• Measures development
• Performance measurement
• Quality improvement