5-Star Reports and QMs

Get Ready for the QM Unfreeze

It’s time for nurse assessment coordinators (NACs) to prepare for a literal 'thaw' in the Five-Star Quality Rating System. CMS announced the freeze will end with the January 2025 Care Compare refresh and the updated measures will be reported publicly. However, the time frame of this data will cover the period from Oct. 1, 2023, to Sept. 30, 2024, for Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0 measures. (Note: The 12-month data collection period may differ for the Discharge Function Score measure because it is an SNF QRP measure). So, although NACs may have monitored these measures in iQIES over the last several months when the public gets their first look at the numbers, it will contain an entire year’s worth of data.

Come January 2025, the Care Compare refresh will unfreeze four Quality Measures (QMs): 

• Percent of Residents Who Made Improvements in Function (short stay)

• Percent of Residents Whose Need for Help With Activities of Daily Living Has Increased (long stay)

• Percent of Residents Whose Ability to Move Independently Worsened (long Stay)

• Percent of High-Risk Residents With Pressure Ulcers (long stay) 

These measures have been frozen since April 2024 following the change from section G to section GG on Oct. 1, 2023. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) didn’t just shift from G to GG. Names of the measures, updated specifications, and one entire measure were entirely changed. This article reviews the history of the freeze, details the modifications to the affected measures, and describes what facilities can expect in January.