NCI®-IDD & NCI-AD™ measures included in first-ever HCBS Quality Measure Set

On Thursday, July 21, CMS released a State Medicaid Director Letter providing guidance for the first-ever HCBS Quality Measure Set. This letter was the first of two planned guidance documents from CMS related to the measure set. 

As noted in the State Medicaid Director Letter, CMS provides states flexibility to select measures from the consumer survey of their choice from the following validated tools: HCBS CAHPS®, and POM®, and the National Core Indicators Surveys: NCI®-IDD, NCI-AD™.

The significant inclusion of NCI®-IDD & NCI-AD™ within this national measure set is a testament to the vision, dedication and leadership of state human services systems, NCI staff and staff at HSRI, NASDDDS, and ADvancing States. These entities have continued to emphasize the importance of a robust quality monitoring program that ensures that the experiences of people who access LTSS are at the forefront of quality improvement efforts. NCI partners have consistently expressed to our federal partners how NCI measures align with stakeholder and state priorities and expectations for quality and monitoring.

As CMS noted in this communication, quality measures will continue to be developed and enhanced. We are committed to further measure development and testing to ensure that NCI remains a valuable and valued tool that supports states in improving quality LTSS.