Quality Programs
Quality Programs
As the largest payer of healthcare services in the United States, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continuously seeks ways to improve the quality of healthcare. CMS manages quality programs that address many different areas of healthcare. These programs encourage improvement of quality through payment incentives, payment reductions, and reporting information on healthcare quality on government websites.
CMS initiated many of these programs in response to legislation. For more information about legislative mandates, see the Legislative Mandates for Quality Measurement and Reporting (PDF) supplemental material.
CMS Quality Programs and Quality Initiatives
The links below are examples of quality programs and initiatives. Click on the links to visit web pages about the program/initiative operated by CMS and/or other U.S. Department of Health and Human Services organizations.
Quality Reporting Programs
- Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting (ASCQR)
- Home Health Quality Reporting Program
- Hospice Quality Reporting
- Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR)
- Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR)
- Inpatient Psychiatric Facility Quality Reporting (IPFQR)
- Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Quality Reporting
- Long-Term Care Hospital Quality Reporting (LTCHQR)
- Medicaid Promoting Program: Eligible Professionals
- Medicare and Medicaid Promoting Interoperability: Eligible Hospitals and Critical Access Hospitals
- Nursing Home Quality Initiative
- Promoting Interoperability (formerly the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs)
- Prospective Payment System-Exempt Cancer Hospital Quality Reporting (PCHQR)
- Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting (SNFQR)
Value-Based Care Programs
- Appropriate Use Criteria Program
- Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced
- Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative
- End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program (ESRD QIP)
- Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP)
- Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP)
- Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP)
- Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Program
- Medicare Shared Savings Program
- Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Program
- Quality Payment Program
- Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) Program
Compare Sites
CMS created the Care Compare website to compare healthcare providers based on quality and other information. This allows consumers to make more informed choices when choosing a healthcare provider. Users of the site can compare providers in any of the following categories of care settings.
- Dialysis Facilitiesc
- Home Health
- Hospice
- Hospitals
- Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities
- Long-Term Care Hospitals
- Nursing Homes
- Physicians