CMS Rolls Out New Care-Transition Metrics for Nursing Homes

CMS Rolls Out New Care-Transition Metrics for Nursing Homes

CMS’s latest quality data update for skilled nursing facilities now includes public reporting of two Transition of Health measures, which track how reliably facilities share reconciled medication lists during transfers or at discharge. Despite a six-week delay caused by the Oct. 1 government shutdown, providers must still meet the 90% data-submission requirement or face a 2% payment cut.

CMS notes that poor communication during care transitions leads to complications, readmissions, and costly medication errors.

“These failures in care coordination have long contributed to wasteful spending and preventable patient harm,” said Jessie McGill, RN, of AAPACN.

Early results look promising, with national averages for both measures already above 95% a sign that most facilities have strong processes in place and a metric hospitals may increasingly use when choosing preferred partners.

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