View The Specifications Manual for Hospital Outpatient Department Quality Measures developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
The Joint Commission Board of Commissioners announced on November 15, 2007 the addition of an initial set of seven hospital outpatient measures to its current complement of core measure sets that may be used to satisfy ORYX performance measurement requirements. The hospital outpatient measures are listed in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Calendar Year 2008 Proposed Rule, and are to be used by hospitals in meeting the requirements set forth in the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (Section 109). The new federal reporting requirement for hospital outpatient measures is intended to be complementary to, and modeled after, the current Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update (RHQDAPU). The OPPS rule requires that data collection for these measures begin April 2008.
The new measure set will give accredited hospitals a broader array of measure sets from which to meet ORYX requirements, and will further support the ability of hospitals to meet multiple measurement requirements with a single data collection effort. Beginning with January 1, 2008 discharges, Joint Commission accredited hospitals will be required to collect and submit data to The Joint Commission for a minimum of four core measure sets or a combination of applicable core measure sets and non-core measures. Hospitals selecting the outpatient measure set to meet ORYX requirements will be asked to confirm this selection by January 1, 2008, but will not be required to initiate data collection until April 2008.
The existing technical infrastructure, which specifically includes contracted performance measurement systems, is expected to continue to serve as the principal vehicle for hospital data collection and transmission.
For additional information please contact Millie at mperich@jointcommission.org.