Medicare Quality Measures Need Improvement, Says Government Watchdog

A new U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) report says Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) quality measures might not indicate the actual care beneficiaries receive, according to Modern Healthcare . CMS lacks processes to ensure that the indicators actually quantify what the agency says it cares about in its strategic objectives. The office learned CMS carries over large amounts of unused funds each year for activities related to quality measurement, and does not keep tabs on all its quality-measurement funding. The GAO said the agency ought to create standard practices to evaluate the measures that it is weighing to ensure they are aligned with strategic quality objectives, as well as track progress in realizing its goals by developing and using performance metrics. The GAO also recommended CMS should retain comprehensive and rigorous data on its quality funding. The Department of Health and Human Services concurred with these recommendations.