HHS has issued a final notice containing an initial set of 26 quality measures (PDF) for Medicaid-eligible adults. The measures, which cover areas such as prevention, care coordination and chronic disease management, will be used for quality reporting.

The healthcare reform law required HHS to post the core set of measures by Jan. 1, 2012. Additionally, the law mandates that HHS must develop a standardized quality reporting format by Jan. 1, 2013, and also publish any changes to the measures on a yearly basis.

The CMS collaborated with HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to identify the measures, which were first published for public comment on Dec. 30, 2010. Many of the measures chosen for the list are currently in use in other programs, including the CMS' Shared Savings Program and the National Committee for Quality Assurance's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set.

“Identification of the initial core set of measures for Medicaid-eligible adults is an important first step in an overall strategy to encourage and enhance quality improvement,” HHS said in a notice scheduled to appear in the Federal Register. “States that chose to collect the initial core set will be better positioned to measure their performance and develop action plans to achieve the three-part aims of better care, healthier people and affordable care as identified in HHS' National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care.”