In 2018 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) selected Arbor Research Collaborative for Health as one of 31 organizations across the United States to carry out up to $1.6 billion in contract work related to health care quality measurement over the next decade. CMS designed this contracting vehicle to fund work that promotes improvements in both the quality of care and outcomes for Medicare beneficiaries and in the overall efficiency of the Medicare program.

The CMS Measure and Instrument Development and Support (MIDS) program supports projects to develop, test, refine, revise, maintain, and implement quality of care measures for CMS programs. These programs include public quality reporting on individual health care providers, which helps patients and their families choose high-quality providers, as well as value-based purchasing, where CMS links how much health care payments to quality. This rapidly growing area of requires substantial expertise because it has potentially significant implications for both individual patients and health care providers, but also for public policy and the quality and efficiency of health care in the U.S.

Arbor Research has been a CMS MIDS contractor since 2008. In this role, we have contributed to a wide range of quality measure development and implementation activities for CMS programs. Currently, our team supports:

• The ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP), CMS’s first nationally implemented value-based purchasing program. For the ESRD QIP, Arbor Research supports CMS in assessing policy options and implementing algorithms for the calculation of measures, performance scores, and payment reductions. We also provide technical assistance to dialysis facilities during the annual preview and comment period.

• CMS’s Alignment of Quality and Public Reporting of CMS Programs initiative, which seeks to align and advance existing quality and public reporting programs to improve health care quality, safety, and cost-effectiveness in the U.S. The study team examines the gaps, best practices, and consumer understanding of the CMS Compare websites and highlights recommendations for strategic improvement.

Previously, Arbor Research led work under CMS MIDS contracts to assess and design Population Health Measures for CMS programs, as well as developing and maintaining ESRD quality measures.