Project Title: Development, Reevaluation, and Implementation of Outpatient Outcome/Efficiency Measures

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracted with Acumen, LLC, its non-profit partner firm The SPHERE Institute, and subcontractors (hereafter jointly referred to as “Acumen”) to develop outcome/efficiency measures. The contract name is Development, Reevaluation, and Implementation of Outpatient Outcome/Efficiency Measures. The contract number is 75FCMC18D0015, Task Order (TO) No. 75FCMC24F0146. As the organizer of this Technical Expert Panel (TEP), Acumen convenes groups of stakeholders and experts who contribute direction and thoughtful input on their work and analysis. Acumen is soliciting nominations for a TEP composed of stakeholders and experts to contribute direction and thoughtful input to re-specify the Breast Cancer Screening Recall Rate measure (OP-39) that is currently in use in the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (HOQR) program. This measure was submitted for Consensus-Based Entity (CBE) endorsement during the Fall 2023 cycle but did not receive endorsement. The purpose of this TEP is to re-specify the OP-39 measure in order to address the limitations and weaknesses discussed during the endorsement cycle. The TEP will provide input on: (i) measure scoring methodologies that better reward strong performance, (ii) approaches to account for differences in patient sub-populations, and (iii) possible companion measures to provide hospitals with additional information they can use to improve their performance while avoiding potential unintended consequences.

We are seeking individuals with differing perspectives and areas of expertise, such as:

• Clinician healthcare delivery perspectives, including those of primary, radiology, and breast cancer care

• Clinician and provider payment policy

• Quality and cost measurement

• Pay-for-performance and quality improvement

• Research methodology, including risk adjustment

• Value-Based Purchasing

• Purchaser/insurer perspective

• Person and family perspective (i.e., patients, caregivers, and patient advocates)

• Meeting #1: This meeting is meant for the TEP to provide expert input on the re-specification for OP-39 for all topics listed above in the Project Overview section.
• Meeting #2 (optional): This meeting is intended for reviewing testing results and discussing refinements to specifications and will be held if needed.

• Review preparatory materials shared ahead of each meeting and complete any pre- or post-meeting survey, if applicable (estimated time between 1-2 hours)
• Attend and participate in all virtual meetings described above (estimated time between 2-4 hours each)

Applicants/nominees are expected to submit a completed online TEP nomination form. As part of this form, nominees are required to upload the following:

• A letter of interest (not to exceed two pages) highlighting experience/knowledge relevant to the TEP objectives described above and involvement in measure development.

  • There is no expectation for consumer/patient/family (caregiver) applicants/nominees to have experience in measure development. These applicants can describe their interest in the topic.

• A curriculum vitae (CV) or a summary of relevant experience (including publications) for a maximum of 10 pages.

  • There is no requirement for consumer/patient/family (caregiver) applicants/nominees to submit a CV.

If you wish to nominate yourself or other individuals for consideration, complete and submit the online nomination form by Tuesday, June 10, 2025, at 11:59 PM Eastern Time.

A copy of the proposed TEP Charter can be found in the download section at the bottom of the CMS MMS Current TEP Opportunities webpage (https://mmshub.cms.gov/get-involved/technical-expert-panel/current).

If you would like to receive a 508-compliant version of the nomination form for submission via email instead of the web-based form, please email op-measures-tep-support@acumenllc.com.

Potential TEP members should understand that participation is voluntary and that their input will be recorded in the meeting minutes. Proceedings of the TEP will be summarized in a report that may be disclosed to the public. If a participant has chosen to disclose private, personal data, then related material and communications are not covered by patient-provider confidentiality. Patient/caregiver participants may elect to keep their names confidential in public documents. Acumen will answer any questions about confidentiality.

All potential TEP members must disclose any significant financial interest or other relationships that may influence their perceptions or judgment. It is unethical to conceal (or fail to disclose) conflicts of interest. However, there is no intent for the disclosure requirement to prevent individuals with particular perspectives or strong points of view from serving on the TEP. The intent of full disclosure is to inform the measure developer, other TEP members, and CMS about the source of TEP members’ perspectives and how that might affect discussions or recommendations.

Submission of this form requires the nominee to complete a disclosure of interest agreement, and to attach a letter of interest and a curriculum vitae/CV (for non-patient applicants.)

Survey Contents:
This survey contains questions on the following:

• Page 1 (this page): TEP nomination period overview and information

• Page 2: Nominee contact information

• Page 3: Nominator contact information (if not self-nominated)

• Page 4: Nominee participation and perspectives on TEP

• Page 5: Disclosure of financial and/or intellectual interests

• Page 6: Nominee agreements

• Page 7: File uploads for Letter of Interest and CV

• Page 8: Nominee availability for virtual TEP meeting #1