“The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) administers health care coverage for more than 150 million individuals through Medicare, Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Marketplace – HealthCare.gov. The vision of the agency is straightforward: To serve the public as a trusted partner and steward, dedicated to advancing health equity, expanding access to affordable coverage and care, and improving health outcomes – the latter being key to this discussion. In addition to its traditional role in coverage, CMS has a critically important responsibility for improving health outcomes, and one aspect of that work is quality…”
“Driving Improvements in Quality
Given the urgent need for action within the health care system and the lessons learned during the pandemic, CMS is taking an aggressive step forward as a national voice for quality. On April 12, 2022, the agency launched the CMS National Quality Strategy, an ambitious long-term initiative that aims to promote the highest quality outcomes and safest care for all individuals.”
“The CMS National Quality Strategy focuses on a person-centric approach from birth to death as individuals journey across the continuum of care, from home or community-based settings to hospital to post-acute care, and across payer types, including Traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage, and Marketplace plans. It builds on our previous efforts to improve quality across the health care system, incorporates lessons learned from the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), and endeavors to foster and promote the expanded levers used during the pandemic such as interoperability and data sharing, data collection specific to social determinants of health and social risk factors, telehealth, emergency preparedness, leadership, and organizational governance among others. The CMS National Quality Strategy also embraces the anticipated acceleration of consumer demand for data and information to make informed care decisions. Overall, the CMS National Quality Strategy will help create a more equitable, safe, and outcomes-based health care system for all individuals.”
“In developing the CMS National Quality Strategy, it was important to us to ensure alignment to other key agency initiatives, such as our strategies for behavioral health, value, and health equity…”
“The CMS National Quality Strategy at a Glance
The CMS National Quality Strategy consists of eight core goals. These goals add the next layer of depth to the broader strategic vision for quality within health care that is built upon a culture of quality and safety at every level.
- Goal 1: Embed Quality into the Care Journey…
- Goal 2: Advance Health Equity…
- Goal 3: Promote Safety…
- Goal 4: Foster Engagement…
- Goal 5: Strengthen Resiliency…
- Goal 6: Embrace the Digital Age…
- Goal 7: Incentivize Innovation and Technology Adoption to Drive Care Improvements…
- Goal 8: Increasing Alignment…” Read the full article here.
Source: The CMS National Quality Strategy: A Person-Centered Approach to Improving Quality – By Michelle Schreiber, M.D.; Adam C. Richards, MA; Jean Moody-Williams, RN, MPP; Lee A. Fleisher, M.D. June 6, 2022. CMS.
