NQF-ENDORSED VOLUNTARY CONSENSUS STANDARDS FOR HOSPITAL CARE Measure Information Form Collected For: CMS Outcome Measures (Claims Based) Measure Set: CMS Mortality Measures

Rationale: Risk-standardized mortality rates (RSMRs) can provide important information about quality of care that is currently unavailable to hospitals. Variation in mortality, after adjusting for case-mix, may reflect differences in hospitals' general environments (such as coordination of care, patient safety policies, and staffing) or variation in care processes. Outcome measures can focus attention on a broad set of healthcare activities that affect patients’ well-being. Moreover, improving outcomes is the ultimate goal of quality improvement, and so the inclusion of outcomes measures assists in attaining improvement goals.