The National Quality Forum (NQF) has announced endorsement of eight Functional Communication Measures (FCMs) related to speech-language pathology rehabilitation of stroke patients. The FCMs are part of ASHA's National Outcomes Measurement System (NOMS). NQF's mission is to improve the quality of American health care and the organization's endorsement of quality measures are viewed as the "gold standard" for the measurement of health care quality.
NOMS is a data collection system developed to illustrate the value of speech-language pathology services provided to adults with communication and swallowing disorders. The FCMs are a series of disorder-specific, seven-point rating scales designed to describe the change in an individual's functional communication and/or swallowing ability over time. The FCMs endorsed by NQF include writing, swallowing, spoken language expression, spoken language comprehension, reading, motor speech, memory, and attention.
ASHA will now work with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to recognize the NQF endorsed FCMs for reporting by speech-language pathologists under the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). Under PQRI, Medicare providers are eligible to receive a bonus payment for submitting NQF approved quality measures. CMS currently recognizes the NOMS and the FCMs as an appropriate tool for documenting patient improvement related to the therapy cap exceptions process.
For further about NOMS, contact Rob Mullen, Director, ASHA's National Center for Evidence Based Practice in Communication Disorders, at rmullen@asha.org. For additional information related to PQRI, contact reimbursement@asha.org.