NCI™Added To The Medicaid Adult Core Health Care Quality Measure Set and Medicaid Scorecard

The Center for Medicaid and CHIP Services (CMCS) announced updates to the Medicaid Adult Core Health Care Quality Measure Set will include use of the National Core Indicators (NCI) as an option to measure the quality of healthcare provided to adult Medicaid recipients. The Social Security Act (Section 1139B) requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to identify and publish a core set of health care quality measures for adult Medicaid enrollees. Currently by statute, state reporting on these measure sets is voluntary.  The goals for the reporting of the Adult Core Set are to encourage national reporting by states on a uniform set of measures and to support states in using these measures to drive quality improvement.  NCI is among the first Adult Core Measures to address long-term services and supports.  The 2020 updates to the Core Set will take effect in the FFY 2020 reporting cycle, which will begin in the early fall of 2020. To view the Adult Core Set Measures see this LINK.

In addition to its inclusion in the Adult Core Set, NCI is among only three experience of care surveys administered to long-term services and support (LTSS) beneficiaries included in the Medicaid Scorecard. The scorecard is used by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to increase public transparency and accountability about the state Medicaid programs’ administration and outcomes. To view the Medicaid Scorecard see this LINK.

The addition of NCI in both of these initiatives will allow CMS and states to expand measurement of quality of care within Medicaid to long term services and supports (LTSS).

Established in 1997, the National Core Indicators (NCI) is a joint venture between the National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS) and Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) to support member entities in gathering a standard set of measures states can use to track system performance over time; compare results across states; and establish national benchmarks. Fourty-six states and the District of Columbia have used NCI as an integral piece of their quality management systems. NCI data aligns with states’ basic requirements for assuring quality in HCBS waivers.

NASDDDS and HSRI staff currently provide technical assistance to states on data collection, data reporting, and data use through consultation, training, project communications, data management and analysis, and dissemination of reports and results. For more information on the National Core Indicators Program see the NCI website at this LINK.

For more information on the Adult Core Set changes see the CMCS Press Release at this LINK.