Technical Expert Panels - Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

Call for TEP nominations: Development of Potentially Preventable Readmission Measures for Post-Acute Care

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with RTI International and Abt Associates to develop potentially preventable readmission measures, in alignment with the Improving Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (known as the IMPACT Act). As part of its measure development process, CMS asks contractors to convene groups of stakeholders and experts who contribute direction and thoughtful input to the measure contractor during measure development and maintenance.

We are writing to notify you that additional details about this project and the nomination materials are available at the following website: https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/MMS/TechnicalExpertPanels.html

If you wish to nominate yourself or other individuals for consideration, please email materials to: nchong@rti.org by the closing date June 1^st, 2015.

Technical Expert Panels

Welcome to the Quality Measures Call for Technical Expert Panel Members Page

This page serves as the designated site that is used to solicit nominations for technical expert panel members for CMS measure development and maintenance contractors. A technical expert panel (TEP) is a group of stakeholders and experts who provide technical input to the measure contractor on the development, selection, and maintenance of measures for which CMS contractors are responsible. Convening the TEP is one important step in the measure development or reevaluation process that CMS contractors use to ensure transparency and it provides an opportunity to receive multi-stakeholders input early in the process.

Individuals with expertise in the relevant fields including clinicians, statisticians, quality improvement, methodologists, and pertinent measure developers, as well as consumers, are encouraged to submit nominations. TEP members are chosen to provide input to the measure contractor based on their personal experience and training. TEP members are selected to represent a diversity of perspectives and backgrounds.

Technical Expert Panel Postings:

Patient-Reported Outcome Performance Measure for Patients Undergoing Non-Emergent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Inpatient Psychiatric Facility (IPF) Outcome and Process Measure Development and Maintenance

End-Stage Renal Disease Evaluation of Potential Prevalent Comorbidity Adjustments in the Standardized Hospitalization Ratio (SHR) and the Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR)

Measure of Informed Consent Document Quality Prior to Elective, Hospital-Performed Procedures

Development of Potentially Preventable Readmission Measures for SNFs, IRFs, LTCHs, and HHAs

Development of Measure to Assess Accountable Care Organizations’ (ACOs) Year-to-Year Improvement in Acute Admission Rates

End-Stage Renal Disease Access to Kidney Transplantation TEP

Project Title: Patient-Reported Outcome Performance Measure for Patients Undergoing Non-Emergent Percutaneous Coronary Intervention

Dates:

The Call for TEP nomination period closed on February 1, 2015.

Documents:

The TEP Membership List (dated May 13, 2015) is posted below in the download section.

Project Overview:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation – Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) to develop a patient-reported outcome performance measure (PRO-PM) for patients undergoing non-emergent percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) that can be used to assess hospital-level performance. The overarching purpose of the project is to develop a measure that can be used to enhance the quality of care provided to Medicare beneficiaries. As part of its measure development process, CMS asks contractors to convene groups of stakeholders and experts who contribute direction and thoughtful input to the measure contractor during measure development and maintenance.

Project Objectives:

The primary goal of this project is to develop a patient-reported outcome performance measure to assess hospital-level performance.

TEP Requirements:

We sought to create a TEP composed of approximately 8-12 individuals with the following perspectives and areas of expertise:

Subject matter expertise: patient-reported outcomes, interventional cardiology, quality measure development
Consumer/patient/family perspective
Performance measurement
Quality improvement
Purchaser perspective
Health care disparities
Coding and informatics

TEP Expected Time Commitment:

CORE anticipates holding two to three teleconference meetings between March 2015 and September 2015.
Teleconference meeting will last between one to two hours.

Expiration Notice:

This notice expires on June 10, 2015.

Project Title: Inpatient Psychiatric Facility (IPF) Outcome and Process Measure Development and Maintenance

Dates:

The Call for TEP nomination period closed on January 5, 2015.
The TEP met on March 20, 2015.

Documents:

The Summary of TEP Evaluation of Measures is posted below in the download section.

Project Overview:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with HSAG to develop quality outcome and process measures for the CMS Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting (IPFQR) Program (Contract #: HHSM-500-2013-13007I; Task Order #: HHSM-500-T0004).

This project directly supports CMS and the overall missions of the IPFQR and Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization (QIN-QIO) programs through the development, maintenance, evaluation, and implementation support of measures for the IPFQR Program. The primary goal of the project is to develop and maintain measures that fill important measurement gaps and that are evidence based, scientifically acceptable (reliable and valid), feasible, and usable by CMS, providers, and the public. As part of the measure development process, contractors convene groups of stakeholders and experts who contribute direction and thoughtful input to the measure contractor during measure development and maintenance.

Project Objectives:

The primary project objectives are as follows:

Develop new measures that drive quality improvement, are patient centered, are aligned with other programs, and fill critical gaps for future inclusion in the CMS IPFQR Program;
Maintain and reevaluate existing IPF measures; and
Support measure implementation in the IPFQR Program.

Project Title: End-Stage Renal Disease Evaluation of Potential Prevalent Comorbidity Adjustments in the Standardized Hospitalization Ratio (SHR) and the Standardized Mortality Ratio (SMR)

Dates:

The TEP nomination period opens on May 18, 2015 and closes on June 18, 2015. Please submit all nomination materials by the closing date.

Project Overview:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) to evaluate the potential of including prevalent comorbidities in the SMR and SHR risk adjustment models. Motivation for this project comes from public comments expressing interest in considering the addition of more recent measures of patient health status to the risk-adjustment models, which now adjust for comorbidities at incidence. This work is part of a larger project to reevaluate the SMR and SHR measures.

Project Objectives:

The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, through its contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, will convene a technical expert panel to evaluate the potential of including prevalent comorbidities in the SMR and SHR risk adjustment models. Specific objectives will include:

Review of the comorbidity adjustment in the current NQF endorsed SMR and SHR measures
Consideration of what, if any, prevalent comorbidities would be appropriate to include in each measure.

TEP Requirements:

A TEP of approximately 7-9 individuals will be convened to consider the inclusion of prevalent comorbidities in the SMR and SHR risk adjustment models. The TEP will be composed of individuals with the following areas of expertise and perspectives:

Subject matter expertise: Nephrologists and nephrology nurses, physicians with expertise in cardiovascular and infectious complications, biostatisticians, epidemiologists
Consumer/patient/family perspective
Performance measurement
Quality improvement
Purchaser perspective
Health care disparities

Potential TEP members must be aware that participation on the Technical Expert Panel is voluntary. As such, individuals wishing to participate on the TEP should understand that their input will be recorded in the meeting minutes. Proceedings of the TEP will be summarized in a report that is disclosed to the general public. If a participant has disclosed private, personal data by his or her own choice, then that material and those communications are not deemed to be covered by patient-provider confidentiality. If patient participants (only) wish to keep their names confidential, that request can be accommodated. Any questions about confidentiality will be answered by the TEP organizers.

All potential TEP members must disclose any current and past activities that may pose a potential conflict of interest for performing the tasks required of the TEP. All potential TEP members should be able to commit to the anticipated time frame needed to perform the functions of the TEP.

Patient Nominees:

UM-KECC is seeking patients who can provide unique and essential input on these quality measures, based on their own experiences and outlooks as dialysis patients. Patients can provide unique and essential input on quality measures based on their own experience and perspective. Patient nominees should submit a completed and signed TEP Nomination Form and letter of interest as described below but are not required to submit a curriculum vitae.

TEP Expected Time Commitment:

TEP members should expect to come together for one to three teleconference calls prior to the in-person meeting held September 2015, in Baltimore, MD.
The in-person meeting (dates to be determined).
After the in-person meeting, additional conference calls may be needed.

Required Information:

A completed and signed TEP Nomination form located in the download section below.The nomination form includes a consent and confidentiality statement.A letter of interest (not to exceed two pages) highlighting experience/knowledge relevant to the expertise described above and involvement in measure development.Curriculum vitae or a summary of relevant experience for a maximum of 10 pages.

Patient participants are not required to submit a curriculum vitae and may elect to keep their names confidential in public documents.The Nomination forms and proposed TEP Charter are found in the Download section below.If you wish to nominate yourself or other individuals for consideration, please complete the form and email it to:dialysisdata@umich.edu.

Project Title: Measure of Informed Consent Document Quality Prior to Elective, Hospital-Performed Procedures

Dates:

The Technical Expert Panel (TEP) nomination period opens on May 15, 2015 and closes on June 15, 2015. Please submit all nomination materials by the closing date.

Project Overview:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has a contract with Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation – Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) to develop an outcome measure to estimate the hospital-level quality of informed consent documents for elective inpatient and ambulatory (same-day) procedures for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) patients. The overarching goal of this measure is to illuminate for hospitals and consumers aspects of informed consent documents that patients and patient advocates have identified as important for decision-making and to incentivize improvements to support patient autonomy. As part of its measure development process, CMS asks contractors to convene groups of stakeholders and experts who contribute direction and thoughtful input to the measure contractor during measure development.

Project Objectives:

The primary goal of this project is to develop an outcome measure used to evaluate hospital-level quality of informed consent documents for elective surgical procedures to support patient autonomy and high-quality decision making.

TEP Requirements:

A TEP of approximately 10 individuals will provide critical input on the measure methodology and feasibility. CORE is seeking experts in patient safety, engagement, and communication; hospital risk management; development of psychometric tools; and experts with ethical-legal backgrounds related to patient autonomy. Specifically, the TEP will be comprised of individuals with the following perspectives and areas of expertise:

Topic knowledge (including patients/patient advocates)
Performance measurement expertise
Quality improvement expertise, particularly around patient safety and communication
Consumer perspective
Purchaser perspective
Healthcare disparities perspective

Potential TEP members must be aware that participation on the panel is voluntary. As such, individuals wishing to participate on the TEP should understand that their input will be recorded in the meeting minutes. Proceedings of the TEP will be summarized in a report that is disclosed to the general public. If a participant has disclosed private, personal data by his or her own choice, then that material and those communications are not deemed to be covered by patient-provider confidentiality. Only patient participants may choose to keep their names confidential. Any questions about confidentiality will be answered by the TEP organizers.

All potential TEP members must disclose any current and past activities that may pose a potential conflict of interest for performing the tasks required of the TEP. All potential TEP members should be able to commit to the anticipated time frame needed to perform the functions of the TEP.

TEP Expected Time Commitment:

TEP members will need to be available to participate in one teleconference meeting between July 2015 and August 2015.
Members will also likely need to participate in one to two follow-up teleconference meetings after September 2015 to provide further input on measure construction, the final TEP summary report, and to discuss CMS recommendations.
Teleconference meetings will last between one to two hours.
The TEP members will review materials provided in advance of the teleconferences and complete online surveys.

Members Required Information:

A completed and signed TEP Nomination form located in the download section below. The nomination form includes a consent and confidentiality statement.
A letter of interest (not to exceed two pages) highlighting experience/knowledge relevant to the expertise described above and involvement in measure development.
Curriculum vitae or a summary of relevant experience for a maximum of 10 pages.

Patient participants are not required to submit a curriculum vitae and may elect to keep their names confidential in public documents.

The Nomination forms and proposed TEP Charter are found in the Download section below.

If you wish to nominate yourself or other individuals for consideration, please complete the form and email it to:informed.consent@yale.edu.

Project Title: Development of Potentially Preventable Readmission Measures for Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs), Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs), and Home Health Agencies (HHAs)

Dates:

The Technical Expert Panel nomination period opens on May 11^th, 2015 and closes June 1^st, 2015. Please submit all nomination materials by the closing date.

Project Overview:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with RTI International and Abt Associates to develop potentially preventable readmission measures, in alignment with the Improving Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (known as the IMPACT Act). The contract names are Development and Maintenance of Symptom Management Measures (HHSM-500-2013-13015I; Task Order HHSM-500-T0001) and Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS) Quality Measure Development and Maintenance (HHSM-500-2013-13001I; Task Order HHSM-500-T0002). As part of its measure development process, CMS asks contractors to convene groups of stakeholders and experts who contribute direction and thoughtful input to the measure contractor during measure development and maintenance.

Project Objectives:

To develop an approach for defining potentially preventable readmissions (PPRs) for post-acute care (SNF, IRF, LTCH, HHA).
To develop potentially preventable readmissions measures for multiple settings (SNF, IRF, LTCH, HHA), including standardized items and specifications such as inclusion/exclusion criteria, and patient and facility characteristics--factors associated with outcome measures (risk adjusters).
To obtain setting-specific input on PPR quality measures’ application and implementation.

Technical Expert Panel Requirements:

We are seeking a Technical Expert Panel of approximately 10-15 individuals with the following perspectives and areas of expertise:

Cross-setting expertise: post-acute care: Skilled Nursing Facility, Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility, Long-Term Care Hospital, Home Health Agency
Consumer/patient/family perspective
Performance measurement with regard to hospital readmissions
Quality improvement
Purchaser/insurer perspective
Research methodology, including risk adjustment
Data collection and implementation perspective
Health and health care disparities

Potential Technical Expert Panel members must be aware that participation on the Technical Expert Panel is voluntary. As such, individuals wishing to participate on the Technical Expert Panel should understand that their input will be recorded in the meeting minutes. Proceedings of the Technical Expert Panel will be summarized in a report that is disclosed to the general public. If a participant has disclosed private, personal data by his or her own choice, then that material and those communications are not deemed to be covered by patient-provider confidentiality. If patient/consumer/family participants (only) wish to keep their names confidential, that request can be accommodated. Any questions about confidentiality will be answered by the Technical Expert Panel organizers.

All potential Technical Expert Panel members must disclose any current and past activities that may pose a potential conflict of interest for performing the tasks required of the Technical Expert Panel. All potential Technical Expert Panel members should be able to commit to the anticipated time frame needed to perform the functions of the Technical Expert Panel.

Patient Nominees:

RTI International and Abt Associates are seeking patients or their family members to participate on a Technical Expert Panel. We are seeking patients who have received care in one or more post-acute settings (Skilled Nursing Facility, Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility, Long-Term Care Hospital, or Home Health Agency) to join the Technical Expert Panel. Patients and family members who have experience with care in these settings can provide unique and essential input on quality measures based on their own experience and perspective. Patient nominees should submit a completed and signed Technical Expert Panel Nomination Form and letter of interest as described below but are not required to submit a curriculum vitae.

Technical Expert Panel Expected Time Commitment:

The Technical Expert Panel is expected to meet once for an all-day, in-person meeting in July 2015. RTI will also request additional follow-up input from TEP members after the initial meeting. Work groups from this TEP will be reconvened via webinar to discuss setting-specific issues.

Required Information:

A completed and signed Technical Expert Panel Nomination form located in the download section below.
- The nomination form includes a consent and confidentiality statement.
A letter of interest (not to exceed two pages) highlighting experience/knowledge relevant to the expertise described above and involvement in measure development.
Curriculum vitae or a summary of relevant experience in a maximum of 10 pages.
- Patient participants are not required to submit a curriculum vitae and may elect to keep their names confidential in public documents.

The Nomination forms can be found in the download section of the website https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/MMS/TechnicalExpertPanels.html

If you wish to nominate yourself or other individuals for consideration, please complete the form and email it to:nchong@rti.org by the closing date June 1^st, 2015.

Project Title: Development of Measure to Assess Accountable Care Organizations’ (ACOs) Year-to-Year Improvement in Acute Admission Rates

Dates:

The Technical Expert Panel (TEP) nomination period closes on Wednesday, May 13, 2015. Please submit all nomination materials by the closing date.

Project Overview:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is developing a novel methodology to assess year-to-year improvement in three ACO risk-adjusted outcome measures. Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation – Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) is leading the work under contract to CMS. As part of its measure development process, CMS/CORE is convening a panel of stakeholders and experts to contribute to measure development.

CMS/CORE previously developed three ACO risk-adjusted acute admission measures that CMS has added to the Shared Savings Program measure set. The three measures evaluate how each ACO’s acute admission rate for patients with diabetes, heart failure, and multiple chronic conditions compare to what would be expected given the rates for other providers with similar patients. In other words, the three measures assess each ACO’s performance relative to that of other providers. Hence, if all providers lower their rates substantially from one year to the next but one ACO lowers its rate less than average, the ACO will look worse on these measures of relative performance in the second year even though it is improving. The ACO improvement measure under development, in contrast, will assess whether each individual ACO improved its acute admission rate, independent of other providers’ progress.

Project Objectives:

The primary goal of this project is to develop an administrative claims-based, risk-adjusted improvement measure to assess ACO-level year-over-year improvement in the rate of acute, unplanned admissions.

TEP Requirements:

A TEP of approximately 10-15 individuals will provide critical input on the construction of the measure, including model development and performance. The improvement measure will use (and not reevaluate) clinically driven decisions made previously for the diabetes, heart failure, and multiple chronic conditions measures (i.e., we will use the same patient cohort, the same outcome, and the same risk-adjustment variables). Hence, the TEP for this measure will benefit relatively less from clinical expertise and more from statistical methods and policy expertise. We are therefore seeking individuals with the following perspectives and areas of expertise for the TEP:

Subject matter expertise: ACO design, quality performance standards and management
Quality measure development and quantitative methodology
Consumer/patient/family perspective
Healthcare disparities
Performance measurement
Quality improvement
Purchaser perspective

Potential TEP members should be aware that participation on the TEP is voluntary. Individuals wishing to participate on the TEP should understand that their input will be recorded in the meeting minutes. Proceedings of the TEP will be summarized in a report that is disclosed to the general public. If a participant has disclosed private, personal data by his or her own choice, then that material and those communications are not deemed to be covered by patient-provider confidentiality. If patient participants (only) wish to keep their names confidential, that request can be accommodated. Any questions about confidentiality will be answered by the TEP organizers.

All potential TEP members must disclose any current and past activities that may pose a potential conflict of interest for performing the tasks required of the TEP. All potential TEP members should be able to commit to the anticipated time frame needed to perform the functions of the TEP.

Patient Nominees:

CORE is seeking patients aged 65 years and older to participate on a TEP. We are seeking patients with one or more chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart failure. Patient nominees should submit a completed and signed TEP Nomination Form and letter of interest as described below but are not required to submit a curriculum vitae. If potential patient participants wish to keep their names confidential in public documents, that request can be accommodated. Any questions about confidentiality will be answered by the TEP organizers.

TEP Expected Time Commitment:

TEP members will need to be available to participate in one or two 1-2 hour teleconferences between May 2015 and September 2015. TEP members will need to review materials provided in advance of the teleconferences.

CORE recognizes that TEP members may not be able to attend both meetings, but we expect members to attend at least one meeting and review and comment on materials for any meeting they cannot attend.

Required Information:

A completed and signed TEP Nomination Form located in the download section below.
The TEP Nomination Form includes a consent and confidentiality statement.
A letter of interest (not to exceed two pages) highlighting experience/knowledge relevant to the expertise described above and involvement in measure development.
Curriculum vitae or a summary of relevant experience for a maximum of 10 pages.
Patient participants are not required to submit a curriculum vitae and may elect to keep their names confidential in public documents.

The Nomination Form and proposed TEP Charter are found in the download section below.

If you wish to nominate yourself or other individuals for consideration, please complete the form and email it to: primarycaremeasures@yale.edu. Blueprint

Project Title: End-Stage Renal Disease Access to Kidney Transplantation Technical Expert Panel

Dates:

February – August 2015

Documents:

The TEP Membership List is posted below in the download section
The Pre-TEP Teleconference and TEP meeting Agendas and Call in information is posted below in the download section..

Project Overview:

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiologyand Cost Center to develop a quality measure(s) for access to kidney transplantation. The contract name is ESRD Quality Measure Development, Maintenance, and Support contract. The contract number is HHSM-500-2013-13017I. As part of its measure development process, CMS asks contractors to convene groups of stakeholders and experts who contribute direction and thoughtful input to the measure contractor during measure development and maintenance. The purpose of this project is to:

Project Objectives:

The University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, through its contract with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will convene a technical expert panel to make recommendations on access to kidney transplantation measures that would be appropriate for public reporting.
The TEP will use existing data and their expert opinion to formulate recommendations to UM-KECC regarding reevaluation and maintenance of existing measures and development of new measures that address important quality gaps. Recommended measures should be evidence based, scientifically acceptable (reliable and valid), feasible, and usable by CMS, providers, and the public.

TEP Requirements:

We sought a TEP of approximately 8-10 individuals with the following perspectives and areas of expertise:

Transplant process expertise (from candidate evaluation through to transplantation) including transplant nephrologists, transplant surgeons, social workers, transplant coordinators/nursing;
Dialysis facility perspective on referral to transplant evaluation including nephrologists, nurses, social workers
Transplant policy expertise;
Individuals with consumer/patient/family perspective and consumer and patient advocates; specifically, patients with experience with transplant work-up, time on the waitlist, transplantation and failed transplants
Individuals with research expertise with Medicare data and issues pertaining to access to kidney transplantation;
Individuals with perspectives on healthcare disparities in access to transplantation;
Expertise in performance measurement and quality improvement

TEP Expected Time Commitment:

TEP members should expect to come together for one to three teleconference calls prior to the in-person meeting held April 20-21, 2015, in Baltimore, MD.
After the in-person meeting, additional conference calls may be needed.