Integrated Healthcare Association Releases Guidance on Accountability Measures for Measurement Year 2020


In response to the pandemic, IHA stakeholders prioritize key clinical services in its performance measurement, incentive and public reporting program.

OAKLAND, Calif., Oct. 01, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) announced today that its Align. Measure. Perform. (AMP) program will use a prioritized, more limited set of measures for accountability purposes in measurement year (MY) 2020. AMP uses a common, industry-endorsed measure set to help providers and plans track – and therefore improve - clinical quality, cost, and value. The program also provides a value-based incentive design to reward high-performing providers.

IHA worked closely with its multi-stakeholder committee members to select the measures that are likely to drive the best outcomes for vulnerable populations during the pandemic while still tracking overall performance. The narrower MY 2020 AMP accountability measure set accounts for the challenges the healthcare delivery system is facing due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the majority of HEDIS measures in the smaller set includes updated telehealth guidance as part of measure specifications – a demonstration of the changing measurement landscape to reflect what providers are doing to ensure access.

Evolving AMP in response to COVID-19
Early in the pandemic IHA’s committees agreed that IHA should collect and report AMP program data as usual, in part to provide insights into COVID-19’s impact on healthcare system performance. Committee members also recommended one-time design changes to account for the extraordinary impact of the pandemic on access to care, including determining a smaller, “pandemic-priority” set of measures for AMP public recognition awards, public reporting, and incentive payments.

“We wanted to focus everyone on the care services that will reduce potential impacts of COVID, especially for vulnerable populations with chronic conditions,” said Michael Anne Browne, MD, Stanford Healthcare and chair of the IHA Technical Measurement Committee. “That’s why we prioritized these measures for accountability in 2020. All the measures in the AMP set are important, but right now these are the most important to immunize in order to prevent the next pandemic and to manage chronic conditions to reduce the potential impact of COVID.”     

To better reflect provider priorities and efforts, IHA committees also supported updating the MY 2020 IHA value-based incentive design based on changes to the limited measure set. Instead of holding POs accountable for year-over-year improvements, the updated incentive design will reward providers for maintaining a certain level of performance in 2020 (also called the attainment pathway). For more details on the incentive design, see IHA’s value-based incentive design technical document.

“The measure areas are prioritized for optimal patient outcomes” noted Anil Keswani, MD, Scripps Health and chair of the IHA Technical Payment Committee. “At the same time, the reduced measure set still needs to work through the proven incentive design that fairly rewards provider organizations and continues to reinforce high-value care delivery.”

The real-time guidance helps plans, providers, and enrollees focus on healthcare services that can make the biggest impact. The pandemic-priority measures include:

  • Prevention & Screening: childhood and adolescent immunizations
  • Diabetes: statin therapy for patients with diabetes; HbA1c control; medication adherence
  • Cardiovascular: controlling blood pressure; statin therapy; medication adherence
  • Respiratory: appropriate antibiotic use; appropriate testing for pharyngitis; asthma medication ratio

Detailed MY 2020 AMP measure set and its program uses can be found on our measure set webpage.

“With the ongoing impact of the pandemic, integrated care plans and provider organizations felt it was critical to use the time left this year to focus on outreach and care that may be truly lifesaving,” said Jeff Rideout, MD, President & CEO of IHA. “Integrated organizations have also adopted telehealth at unprecedented levels to improve patient access. The changes made for 2020 recognize both the pandemic conditions and the clear opportunity to create virtual access for many of the measures in our program,” notes Rideout.

About Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA)
Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) brings the healthcare industry community together to solve industry-wide challenges that stand in the way of high-value care. As a non-profit industry association, we use our decades of expertise, objective data, and our unique role as a trusted facilitator to make the healthcare system work better for everyone. We provide insights that help the healthcare system continuously improve. We build new tools that simplify how the industry works together. And we provide a forum for cross-industry leaders – through our board and programs – to have honest conversations that guide the future of healthcare.

For more information about this AMP update, please visit https://www.iha.org or contact our team at amp@iha.org. For press inquiries, contact Michelle Lewis at press@iha.org.