What are core quality measures?

• A. Quality measures that will be accepted by all parties involved for reporting of quality across government and commercial insurance plans
• B. Measures of staff satisfaction
• C. Measures of facility cleanliness
• D. Measures of physician tenure and credentialing

Answer: (A)

Core quality measures are standardized, nationally endorsed metrics used to evaluate and report the quality of patient care across different settings and payers. They are designed to be evidence-based, feasible to collect, and comparable so performance can be benchmarked and improvements pursued. That broad acceptance by both government programs and private insurers is what makes them suitable for reporting of quality across public and commercial plans.

Measures focusing on staff satisfaction, facility cleanliness, or physician tenure and credentialing aren’t the standardized cross-payer quality metrics used for pay-for-performance or public reporting, even though they may be important in other contexts.