The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently updated the Dialysis Facility Care Compare (DFCC) on Medicare.gov, providing patients and healthcare professionals with the latest data to evaluate and compare dialysis facilities. This update, part of CMS’s ongoing commitment to transparency and quality in healthcare, includes a refreshed dataset that empowers patients to make informed decisions about their dialysis care. The data is also crucial for facilities seeking to improve their services and for stakeholders monitoring the quality of dialysis care nationwide.
What’s New in the April 2023 Medicare Dialysis Facility Compare Update?
The April 2023 refresh is a significant update to the Dialysis Facility Care Compare, incorporating the most recent performance data from dialysis facilities. This update includes the release of the Payment Year (PY) 2023 End Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program (ESRD QIP) public reporting files. These files offer detailed insights into the scoring and measure performance under the ESRD QIP, along with any associated payment adjustments for outpatient dialysis facilities in PY 2023. This information is vital for both facilities aiming for excellence and patients seeking to understand the performance metrics that matter most in their care.
This data refresh ensures that the information available on Dialysis Facility Care Compare on Medicare.gov reflects the most current picture of dialysis care quality. By providing data from July 2021 to June 2022, CMS enables users to assess facility performance across a range of critical measures.
Key Quality Measures Now Updated on Medicare Dialysis Facility Compare
The April 2023 update brings fresh data to several key measures on Dialysis Facility Care Compare, spanning various aspects of patient care and facility performance. These updated measures are crucial for a comprehensive understanding of what each facility offers:
Patient & Family Engagement:
- In-Center Hemodialysis Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (ICH CAHPS): This measure reflects patient experiences with their care, focusing on communication, staff care, and operations. The Overall Star Rating based on the ICH CAHPS survey is also updated, providing star ratings for kidney doctors’ communication and caring, dialysis center staff care and operations, information provided to patients, and overall ratings of doctors and staff.
Care Coordination:
- Standardized Readmission Ratio (SRR): Measures facility performance in preventing hospital readmissions.
- Standardized Hospitalization Ratio (SHR): Evaluates facility performance in minimizing hospitalizations.
- Percentage of Prevalent Patients Waitlisted (PPPW): Indicates the facility’s success in placing patients on kidney or kidney-pancreas transplant waiting lists.
- Clinical Depression Screening and Follow-Up: Highlights facility adherence to mental health care standards.
Clinical Care:
- Kt/V Dialysis Adequacy (comprehensive): Assesses whether patients are receiving adequate dialysis treatment to remove waste from their blood.
- Vascular Access:
- Standardized Fistula Rate (SFR): Measures the rate of arteriovenous fistula use, considered the optimal vascular access type.
- Long-term Catheter Rate: Tracks the use of catheters, which should be minimized for long-term dialysis.
- Standardized Transfusion Ratio (STrR): Monitors blood transfusion practices.
- Hypercalcemia: Measures the management of calcium levels in adult patients.
- Ultrafiltration Rate (UFR): Assesses fluid management during dialysis.
- Hemoglobin management & Phosphorus concentrations in the blood: (Downloadable Data Only) These measures, available in downloadable data, offer further clinical insights.
- Measurement of nPCR for pediatric hemodialysis patients: Specific to pediatric care, this measures protein catabolic rate.
Safety:
- National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Bloodstream Infection (BSI) in Hemodialysis Patients: Monitors bloodstream infections, a critical safety measure.
- NHSN Dialysis Event Reporting: Tracks various adverse events during dialysis.
- Medication Reconciliation (MedRec): Evaluates processes for medication safety.
These detailed measures empower patients to compare medicare dialysis facilities based on factors that are most relevant to their health and well-being.
Who Benefits from the Medicare Dialysis Facility Compare Update?
This update to Medicare Dialysis Facility Care Compare serves multiple beneficiaries:
- Medicare Beneficiaries: Patients can use this information to compare dialysis facilities and choose a center that best meets their needs. The data supports informed decision-making, allowing patients to prioritize facilities with strong performance in areas important to them, such as patient experience, safety, and clinical outcomes.
- Dialysis Facilities: Facilities can utilize the updated data to benchmark their performance against peers, identify areas for improvement, and demonstrate their commitment to quality care. The public reporting also encourages healthy competition and continuous quality improvement within the dialysis care sector.
- Healthcare Stakeholders: Researchers, policymakers, and advocacy groups can use this comprehensive dataset to analyze trends in dialysis care, inform policy decisions, and support initiatives aimed at enhancing the quality and safety of dialysis treatment nationwide.
Accessing the Updated Medicare Dialysis Facility Data
The refreshed data is readily accessible through the Care Compare website and the Provider Data Catalog website. These platforms are designed to be user-friendly, allowing individuals to easily search for and compare dialysis facilities based on the updated quality measures. Furthermore, detailed information about the ESRD QIP, including public reporting files, can be found on the Public Reporting & Certificates page within the ESRD QIP section of CMS.gov.
By leveraging these resources, patients and stakeholders can gain valuable insights into medicare dialysis facility quality and contribute to a more transparent and patient-centered healthcare system. The April 2023 Dialysis Facility Care Compare update is a crucial step towards empowering informed healthcare choices and promoting excellence in dialysis care.
