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Mathematica Launches New Research on Health Care Quality Measures
Contact: Jennifer de Vallance, (202) 484-4692
WASHINGTON, DC—December 6, 2011—Improving health care quality and value requires methods to measure the quality and efficiency of the health care system. Mathematica Policy Research has been at the forefront of developing, using, and reporting on measurement tools essential to understanding the performance of health care providers and organizations. In several new projects spanning behavioral health, ehealth, and physician performance, health experts at Mathematica are taking a leading role in creating quality measures that give policymakers, practitioners, and patients the information they need to make informed and effective medical decisions and help address the changes called for in health care reform. These studies draw on Mathematica's strong expertise in managing data, conducting evidence-based health research, and developing measurement tools.
Two projects, one for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and one for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), will help develop new quality benchmarks in ehealth technology. They may also help reduce medical errors, promote better exchange of information, and cut costs. These projects include the following features:
- Thomas Campbell, principal program analyst, is leading an $8 million project that provides operational assistance to registries, electronic health record (EHR) vendors, Group Practice Reporting Option entities, and Maintenance of Certification boards wishing to participate in the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS). CMS uses measures reported through PQRS to assess quality and apportion Medicare incentive payments. Additionally, we are developing a plan to integrate the EHR incentive program quality measures with measures from PQRS. This project is being conducted in collaboration with Arch Systems, Booz Allen Hamilton, and Telligen.
- For the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, principal program analyst Jeff McCartney has teamed with Booz Allen Hamilton and other organizations on a $600,000 project to re-specify existing quality measures so that they can be used with EHRs. The project also involves developing several new quality measures for use by the Medicare and Medicaid programs.
Mathematica is collaborating with the National Committee for Quality Assurance on two projects that will help define behavioral health quality measures. These projects are being conducted for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, Office of Disability, Aging, and Long-Term Care Policy at DHHS. They include the following features:
- A $2 million project led by senior researcher Jonathan Brown will develop and test quality measures for behavioral health care across a broad spectrum of disorders and treatments. These measures will ultimately be used to monitor progress toward reaching the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's National Behavioral Health Quality Framework goals.
- Researcher Melissa Azur is leading a $300,000 project to develop and test quality measures for adults with post-traumatic stress disorder treated in ambulatory care settings.
About Mathematica: Mathematica Policy Research, a nonpartisan research firm, provides a full range of research and data collection services, including program evaluation and policy research, survey design and data collection, research assessment and interpretation, and program performance/data management, to improve public well-being. Its clients include federal and state governments, foundations, and private-sector and international organizations. The employee-owned company, with offices in Princeton, N.J., Ann Arbor, Mich., Cambridge, Mass., Chicago, Ill., Oakland, Calif., and Washington, D.C., has conducted some of the most important studies of health care, education, international, disability, family support, employment, nutrition, and early childhood policies and programs.