The following is a summary of “Patient-Reported Quality Measures for Palliative Care: The Time is now,” published in the February 2023 issue of Pain Management by Walling, et al.

There needed to be more in the understanding ofw to evaluate the effectiveness of hospice and specialty palliative care, notwithstanding the advances. For example, there were few patient-reported metrics available, especially in palliative care categories like symptom management and communication, according to new research by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The study team, which included psychometricians, doctors in palliative care, and producers of quality measures and surveys, developed and tested patient-reported measures using well-established, cutting-edge techniques.

They used a patient-centered, patient-engaged approach throughout the development and testing process. Information collecting, pre-testing, testing, and endorsement phases were all covered in the step-by-step procedure. 

They chose two draft measures (“Feeling Heard and Understood” and “Receiving Desired Help for Pain”) for testing with patients receiving palliative care in clinic-based settings to fill quality measure gaps discovered during the information collection phase. For the suggested measures’ draft items and accompanying response alternatives, they iteratively improved them during the pre-testing phase using cognitive interviews. The national beta field test protocols were established with the help of the alpha pilot test. The measures were reliable according to accepted standards, they had high levels of face and construct validity, an levelsd the results at the program level were diverse. The National Quality Forum (NQF) approved the measures.

The measurements closed a critical gap in patient-reported experience metrics in their profession and emphasized the crucial role that patient voices played in palliative care.

Reference: jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(22)00963-0/fulltext