The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with RTI International to develop new quality measures for nursing facilities to be used in their five-star rating program. In part of its development and maintenance process, CMS is requesting that interested parties submit comments on the candidate measures.

The project objectives are to develop new measures that assess nursing home quality. The project includes conducting statistical testing to determine the specifications for the numerator and denominator, to identify exclusion criteria, and to adjust for resident characteristics associated with outcomes.

To help achieve these objectives, CMS and RTI International are soliciting public comments on the following candidate nursing home quality measures:
• Percentage of Residents Whose Ability to Move In and Around Their Room and Adjacent Corridors Declined (Long Stay)
• Prevalence of Antianxiety or Hypnotic Medication Use (Long Stay)
• Percentage of Residents Who Developed Delirium after Admission and were Discharged with Symptoms (Short Stay)
• Percentage of Residents with Functional Improvement (Short Stay)

They are seeking public comments from a mix of subject matter experts, including those with a clinical background and those with technical expertise in quality measurement. Consumer perspective is also being requested. The perspective of consumers is important in ensuring that the measures accurately address concerns from many points of view.

All public comments must be submitted to CMSNursingHomeQM@rti.org. Comments are due by May 25, 2015.