The CMS National Quality Strategy: A Person-Centered Approach to Improving Quality
by Michelle Schreiber, M.D.; Adam C. Richards, MA; Jean Moody-Williams, RN, MPP; Lee A. Fleisher, M.D. (CMS.gov 6/06/2022)
Given the urgent need for action within the health care system and the lessons learned during the pandemic, CMS is taking an aggressive step forward as a national voice for quality. On April 12, 2022, the agency launched the CMS National Quality Strategy, an ambitious long-term initiative that aims to promote the highest quality outcomes and safest care for all individuals.[4]
The CMS National Quality Strategy focuses on a person-centric approach from birth to death as individuals journey across the continuum of care, from home or community-based settings to hospital to post-acute care, and across payer types, including Traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program coverage, and Marketplace plans. It builds on our previous efforts to improve quality across the health care system, incorporates lessons learned from the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE), and endeavors to foster and promote the expanded levers used during the pandemic such as interoperability and data sharing, data collection specific to social determinants of health and social risk factors, telehealth, emergency preparedness, leadership, and organizational governance among others. The CMS National Quality Strategy also embraces the anticipated acceleration of consumer demand for data and information to make informed care decisions. Overall, the CMS National Quality Strategy will help create a more equitable, safe, and outcomes-based health care system for all individuals.
