The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has contracted with Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation/Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (CORE) to develop risk-adjusted outcome measures for ambulatory care. As part of this project, CORE is developing a measure of unplanned hospital visits after outpatient colonoscopy.

CMS is inviting stakeholders and other interested members of the public to review and comment on the measure under development. This public comment period provides an opportunity for the widest array of interested parties to provide input on the colonoscopy measure and can prompt critical suggestions not previously considered by the measure contractor or its national technical expert panel (TEP). This email serves as the call for public comment on this measure.

The measure justification, specifications, and testing results are outlined in the Measure Information Form (MIF) and the Measure Justification Form (MJF). Additionally, you may review a summary of the TEP’s discussions on the measure. All documents are available in the ‘downloads’ section at the link below.

Please email your comments to GIambulatorymeasures@yale.edu. Comments on the measures must be received by close of business on December 6, 2013. If you are providing comments on behalf of an organization, include the organization’s name and your contact information. If you are commenting as an individual, submit identifying or contact information. Do not include personal health information in your comments. For more information and to access the above measure documents please visit https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/MMS/CallforPublicComment.html. Please note that at the end of the public comment period, all comments will be posted on the website.

Please contact Julia Montague (GIambulatorymeasures@yale.edu or 203-764-5700) should you have any questions.