Current Specification Manual for National Hospital Quality Measures

The aligned manual represents the result of efforts by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission to achieve identity among common national hospital performance measures and to share a single set of common documentation.

Download the ‘Specifications Manual for National Hospital Quality Measures’, version 2.5b’  (Version 2.5b is applicable starting with 10/1/2008 discharges through 3/31/2009 discharges)

• Release Notes 2.5b (Version 2.5b is applicable starting with 10/1/2008 discharges through 3/31/2009 discharges)
• Release Notes 2.5a (Version 2.5a is applicable starting with 10/1/2008 discharges through 3/31/2009 discharges)
• Release Notes 2.5 (Version 2.5 is applicable starting with 10/1/2008 discharges through 3/31/2009 discharges)

ORYX measurement systems with questions should e-mail oryxcore@jointcommission.org. Hospitals and the lay public with questions about the manual should e-mail oryx@jointcommission.org.

To view the Specification Manual for National Implementation of Hospital Core Measures, you must have Adobe Reader. 

Note: Over time, it may be necessary to view historical or future versions of the Specification Manuals as the Specifications Manuals are based on very specific data collection time periods (i.e., based on hospital discharge dates).  

The Release Notes for each version of the manual outline the changes associated with that specific release and include corrections and clarifications based on ongoing alignment discussions between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Joint Commission.