PAC Cross-Setting Standardized Assessment Data Released
On August 15, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted to their public comment page, Development and Maintenance of Post-Acute Care (PAC) Cross-Setting Standardized Assessment Data, with a request for comment deadline of August 26, 2016.
This project involves CMS contracting with RAND to develop standardized assessment-based data items to meet the requirements as set forth under the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014, Section 2(a). Development of standardized data items includes conducting environmental scans of the evidence, data item conceptualization, drafting data item specifications, convening technical expert panels, and feasibility piloting.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) seeks comments from stakeholders on data items that meet the IMPACT Act domains of: cognitive function and mental status; special services, treatments, and interventions; medical conditions and co-morbidities; and impairments. In addition to general comments, CMS is specifically interested in public feedback regarding the topics below:
- Potential for improving quality: includes consideration of the data element’s ability to improve care transitions through meaningful exchange of data between providers; improve person-centered care and care planning; be used for quality comparisons; and support clinical decision-making and care coordination;
- Validity: includes consideration of the data element’s proven or likely inter-rater reliability (i.e., consensus in ratings by two or more assessors) and validity (i.e., whether it captures the patient attribute being assessed);
- Feasibility for use in PAC: includes consideration of the data element’s potential to be standardized and made interoperable across settings; clinical appropriateness; and relevance to the work flow across settings; and
- Utility for describing case mix: includes whether the data element could be used with different payment models, and whether it measures differences in patient severity levels related to resource needs.
Comments may be submitted on the entire set of data elements or specific to individual data elements and should be sent via email or to:
RAND Corporation
1200 South Hayes Street
Arlington, VA 22202-5050
Attn: Barbara Hennessey, W7E
