Hospital Quality Data: HHS Should Specify Steps and Time Frame for Using Information Technology to Collect and Submit Data
Hospitals submit data in electronic form on a series of quality measures to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and receive scores on their performance. Increasingly, the clinical information from which hospitals derive the quality data for CMS is stored in information technology (IT) systems. GAO was asked to examine (1) hospital processes to collect and submit quality data, (2) the extent to which IT facilitates hospitals' collection and submission of quality data, and (3) whether CMS has taken steps to promote the use of IT systems to facilitate the collection and submission of hospital quality data. GAO addressed these issues by conducting case studies of eight hospitals with varying levels of IT development and interviewing relevant officials at CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Recommendations
Recommendations for Executive Action
| Agency Affected | Recommendation | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Department of Health and Human Services | To support the expansion of quality measures for the Annual Payment Update (APU) program, the Secretary of HHS should identify the specific steps that the department plans to take to promote the use of health IT for the collection and submission of data for CMS's hospital quality measures. |
In the course of implementing the 2009 HITECH Act, CMS began in January 2014 to enable hospitals to collect and submit some quality data for the Medicare Inpatient Quality Reporting program (previously known as the Annual Payment Update program)using their health information technology systems.
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| Department of Health and Human Services | To support the expansion of quality measures for the APU program, the Secretary of HHS should inform interested parties about those steps and the expected time frame, including milestones for completing them. |
In the course of implementing the 2009 HITECH Act, CMS began in January 2014 to enable hospitals to collect and submit some quality data for the Medicare Inpatient Quality Reporting program (previously known as the Annual Payment Update program)using their health information technology systems. Interested parties have been informed through CMS-sponsored websites and newsletters.
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