08-03-2023_BoardBook

parts of the system. I.e., Does reducing patients’ length of hospital stay increase readmission rates?

Adapted from: (NQF, The ABCs of Measurement, 2022), (IHI, 2022)

Quality Measure Data and Collection Methods

Quality measures that inform consumer choice and improve clinical outcomes require strong

data validity and reliability. Quality measure data can be collected from different sources (Appendix

Table 1), including medical records, patient surveys, and electronic administrative databases used to

adjudicate claims or to manage care (AHRQ, Data Sources for Health Care Quality Measures, 2018).

While electronic or digital data sources predominate, there are advantages and challenges with data

capture used for quality measurement and reporting. A study of aggregate data exchange for 19 quality

measures from four health systems and 256 physicians, identified 15 types of errors including breaks in

data delivery, changes in measures, and nonsensical measure results (Phillips, et al., 2021). While the

first study did not include obesity quality measures, another study assessed quality measures in adult

obesity and found methodological challenges regarding data capture and coding limitations (Sampsel, et

al., 2021). To effectively compare settings of care, such as the performance of providers and health

plans, it is critical to collect data using standardized quality measure definitions and procedures.

Quality Measure Development Process and Lifecycle

Quality measures undergo rigorous development and a lifecycle to ensure that measures

implemented in payment programs meet various evaluation criteria and annual review process.

Stakeholder engagement is a central element used to obtain diverse perspectives throughout the quality

measure development process and lifecycle. The process (Figure 1) begins with the conceptualization of

measures with the goal of generating topic ideas or areas of measurement that are most important to

stakeholders, followed by refining potential concepts into a measure list. The measure concepts then

11