The Minimum Data Set 3.0 is set for 2009.

Coordination Strategy for Post-Acute Care (PAC) an

A public-private stakeholder group has submitted quality measure recommendations for long-term and post-acute care (PAC) to the federal government.

As required by the Affordable Care Act, the National Quality Forum convened the Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) to develop a coordinated performance measurement approach across PAC and LTC settings. The recommendations were then submitted to the Department of Health and Human Services.

The resulting report, which concentrates heavily on the role of health information technology, focuses on improving the care of people with complex health problems as they transition in and out of various medical settings.

MAP recommends that HHS:

  • Identify core measure concepts for PAC and LTC
  • Emphasize the need for uniform data sources and health IT
  • Define a pathway for improving measure applications through filling priority measure gaps, developing standardized care-planning tools and monitoring for unintended consequences.

According to MAP, special attention should be paid to areas such as pressure ulcers, adverse events, falls, infection rates, hospital readmissions and cognitive and mental status.

Read the full MAP report here.