CMS National Quality Strategy

CMS is committed to providing patients with the care they want, need, and deserve in a health care system that fosters prevention, wellness, and chronic disease management. The CMS quality strategy promotes the highest quality outcomes and safest care for every individual throughout their care journey.

Innovation and collaboration are essential to advancing CMS’s quality priorities and bringing us closer to the health care system we envision for every American. To improve health care quality and safety, CMS uses all our available levers: 

• Collection and exchange of quality data
• Patient and provider engagement
• Quality reporting, feedback, and technical assistance
• Standards and oversight
• Coverage, payment, and value-based models

CMS uses quality measurement as a central tool to improve care quality and safety for patients, unifying Traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid & Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) coverage, Marketplace plans, and CMS Innovation Center models and demonstrations.

Universal Foundation

The Universal Foundation is a set of high-priority quality measures streamlined across CMS programs. CMS’s use of the Universal Foundation promotes the highest quality and safest care for adults and children as we work together to improve care quality. Learn more by visiting the Universal Foundation webpage.

Meaningful Measures 2.0

Since 2017, the Meaningful Measures Initiative has remained key to shaping the ecosystem of quality measures that drive value-based care. Meaningful Measures 2.0 promotes innovation and modernization of quality measurement, addressing a wide variety of settings, stakeholders, and measurement requirements. Learn more by visiting the Meaningful Measures 2.0 webpage.

Send feedback and questions to CMS by emailing QualityStrategy@cms.hhs.gov.

History of the CMS National Quality Strategy

• National Quality Strategy Fact Sheet (PDF) – (2022 – 2024)
• Advancing Health Care Safety for All (PDF) – (2022 – 2024)
• Quality in Motion: Acting on the CMS National Quality Strategy (PDF) – (2022 – 2024)
• CMS Quality Strategy – (2012-2016) (PDF)