On September 25, CMS launched Investing in Health Outcomes with 37 founding state partners. Its voluntary Medicaid Quality Pledge calls for states to prioritize prevention, chronic disease and behavioral-health outcomes; streamline measures; move toward near-real-time digital measurement instead of claims and chart abstraction where feasible; and connect financial accountability to results. Participating states will develop targets and look for outcomes-oriented measures in quality strategies and upcoming procurements.

DomAfina’s take: Medicaid home-care provider organizations should not wait for a contract amendment. Inventory which outcomes can be calculated from EVV, assessments, care plans and visit documentation; preserve the source behind every number; and identify measures that still require a manual chart pull. The winning workflow will produce defensible patient-level evidence continuously—not assemble it after the reporting period closes.

Source reviewed: CMS: Investing in Health Outcomes Medicaid Quality Pledge. The source supports the reported update; the operational recommendations are DomAfina’s analysis.