LeadingAge NY Comments on Nursing Home “Quality Pool”
In a March 17th letter, LeadingAge NY generally supported the Department of Health's (DOH) proposal to make no changes to the Nursing Home Quality Initiative (NHQI) for 2017. DOH’s proposal would continue to score and compare facilities’ performances based on: (1) 14 quality measures (70 points); (2) compliance measures including survey and data reporting (20 points); and (3) potentially avoidable hospitalizations (10 points).
Our comments call for appropriate risk adjustment of selected quality measures, continued analysis of the cost report-based staffing hours per day, modification of the immunization measures, and further examination of the avoidable hospital use measure. We also continue to urge DOH to identify an alternative funding source for the $50 million quality pool rather than making further across-the-board reductions to facilities’ Medicaid rates.
Contact: Dan Heim, dheim@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8866