AHA says CMS hospital quality measures aren't ready

As things stand, hospitals soon will have to report on 72 quality measures (up from 30) if they want to receive full Medicare reimbursement. However, most of the new quality measures proposed by CMS for its fiscal 2009 budget aren't ready to be reported on yet, according to the American Hospital Association.

Of the 43 new measures CMS has proposed, only 10 have been adopted by the Hospital Quality Alliance, and what's more, many have not been endorsed by the National Quality Forum, wrote the AHA in a letter to the agency. AHA doesn't believe that the 33 measures not yet adopted by the Hospital Quality Alliance are ready for reporting. What's more, adding that many more measures may actually confuse hospitals as to what their priorities should be, according to AHA Executive Vice President Rick Pollack.

To learn more about the AHA's concerns:
- read this Modern Healthcare article [1] (reg. req.)
- read the AHA's comments [2] (.pdf)

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