How are the quality measures chosen?
As required by applicable statutes, the list for 2011 was developed through formal notice-and-comment rulemaking in 2010. A similar process will be used for the development of the list for 2012, and subsequent years. According to federal statute, the measures shall: (1) have been adopted or endorsed by a consensus organization, such as the Ambulatory Quality Association (AQA) Alliance or National Quality Forum (NQF); (2) include measures that have been submitted by a physician specialty; (3) are identified by CMS as having used a consensus-based process for development; and (4) include structural measures, such as the use of electronic health records and electronic prescribing technology.
