The University of Michigan Kidney and Epidemiology Cost Center (UM-KECC), develops, maintains, and updates the End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Measures for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), under the Quality Measure Development and Maintenance contract with CMS. These include the Dialysis Facility Care Compare (DFCC) Measures and the development of new quality measures that will be implemented in the future. Several of CMS’s current and new Quality Measures will be used by CMS in the CMS ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP). In addition, UM-KECC works with CMS’s Measures Management System (MMS) in the development, evaluation, and reporting of the current ESRD Quality Measures.
Ongoing Technical Expert Panels
Assessment of Patient Autonomy in ESRD Treatment Decision-Making
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) to collect stakeholder feedback for the assessment of patient autonomy in ESRD treatment decision making. The contract number is 775FCMC18D0041, task order number75FCMC23F0001. As part of its measure development process, the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center convenes groups of stakeholders who contribute direction and thoughtful input to the measure developer during measure development and maintenance.
TEP Call #1: May 30, 11:00am - 1:00pm EST
Past Activities
Patient Reported Outcomes Report
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tasked the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) with developing recommendations that investigate avenues for acquiring the evidence, data, and infrastructure necessary to implement patient-centered measures and patient reported outcomes. Read the Patient Reported Outcomes Report.
Patient Reported Outcomes Focus Group Summary Report
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) tasked the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center (UM-KECC) to convene focus groups to review draft questions on patient safety and patient life goals. The Patient Reported Outcomes Focus Group Summary Report summarizes the feedback received from both patient and provider specific focus groups on draft questions sets for patient safety and patient life goals. Read the Patient Reported Outcomes Focus Group Summary Report.
Technical Expert Panel Summary Reports
DFCC Star Ratings (April 2015)
Access to Kidney Transplantation (April 2015)
Emergency Department Visits (May 2016)
DFCC Star Ratings (February 2017)
Patient-Reported Outcomes (May 2017)
Medication Reconciliation and Management (July 2017)
Physician Level Measures (February 2018)
Effective Availability and Utilization of Home Dialysis Modalities (June 2021)
Practitioner Level Measurement of Effective Access to Kidney Transplantation (September 2021)
Dialysis Facility Quality of Patient Care Star Ratings (March 2022)
Mineral and Bone Disorder TEP (2024)
Stakeholder Feedback for ESRD Life Goals Survey (PaLS) (2024)
Quality Measure Information
CMS and UM-KECC submitted 15 measures for NQF review in 2015, 11 of which received endorsement. The specifications for each measure are listed below. For information on how measures are implemented on DFCC, please see the Guide to the Quarterly Dialysis Facility Care Compare Reports on the DFCC Methods page.
In addition, CMS and UM-KECC submitted 5 measures to NQF for review in 2016. Those measures are also included below.
Dialysis Adequacy
- Minimum Delivered Hemodialysis Dose (NQF # 0249 – reserve status)*
- Delivered Dose of Peritoneal Dialysis Above Minimum (NQF # 0318)*
- Minimum spKt/V for Pediatric HD Patients (NQF # 1423)*
- Measurement of nPCR for Pediatric HD Patients (NQF # 1425)*
- Minimum Delivered Peritoneal Dialysis Dose (NQF #2704)
- Pediatric Peritoneal Dialysis Adequacy: Achievement of Target Kt/V (NQF #2706)*
Vascular Access
- Hemodialysis Vascular Access: Long-term Catheter Rate (NQF #2978)*
- Hemodialysis Vascular Access: Standardized Fistula Rate (NQF #2977)*
Mineral and Bone Disorder
Mortality
Hospitalization/Readmission
- Standardized Hospitalization Ratio for Dialysis Facilities (NQF #1463)*
- Standardized Readmission Ratio (NQF #2496)*
Anemia Management
- Monthly Hemoglobin Measurement for Pediatric Patients (NQF # 1424)**
- Standardized Transfusion Ratio for Dialysis Facilities (NQF #2979)*
*Currently publically reported on the Dialysis Facility Care Compare (DFCC) Website
**Currently publically reported only in the DFCC Downloadable Database on Data.Medicare.Gov