A first-of-its-kind measure to gauge hospitalization rates among long-stay skilled nursing residents has been endorsed by the National Quality Forum, the American Health Care Association announced Thursday.

The MDS-based measure, sponsored by AHCA and PointRight, allows providers to monitor conditions that may raise the risk of hospitalization among residents who have been in a skilled nursing facility for more than 100 days. That reflects AHCA’s goal of reducing hospitalizations among long-stay residents by 15%, or reach a performance rate of 10% or less, by March 2018, the group said in a press release.

“The use of this NQF-endorsed measure will help providers identify areas to focus on in order to reduce potentially harmful hospitalizations for the resident,” said David Gifford, M.D., MPH, AHCA’s Senior Vice President of Quality and Regulatory Affairs. “It will also be a great source of information for Accountable Care Organizations and Managed Care Organizations.”

Steven Littlehale, executive vice president and chief clinical officer of PointRight, added that “this measure, along with associated root cause analysis tools, will enable skilled nursing centers to better care for these residents and other at-risk populations.”