Advance Notice from CMS of Stars Methodological Changes 10/30/20
On Friday, October 30, 2020 CMS released an Advanced Notice of Methodological Changes for Calendar Year 2022 for Medicare Advantage Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Polices – Part II. Of note in this release there is updated information on two HEDIS measures that will be of interest to Stars and HEDIS managers. These HEDIS measures have had significant changes in how they are collected, such that they are now on the Stars display page.
Controlling High Blood Pressure – In July 2020 NCQA announced a substantive change to the Controlling High Blood Pressure (CBP) measure. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, NCQA announced that member-reported blood pressure readings from digital at-home meters would now also be acceptable. This change was made to accommodate virtual visits with providers and is a significant change from prior years guidance on this measure. This measure was already on the display page for 1 year due to prior changes to the measure. Thus, the measure will be considered display for 2022 Star ratings and will be incorporated into Star ratings again for 2023.
Plan All-Cause Readmission – This is another HEDIS measure that NCQA substantially rewrote, and because of the changes, it too, will be moved to the display page. This measure will be on the page for both the 2022 and 2023 Star rating years.
