Neurology Final Report - Fall 2020 Cycle 

Stroke, Alzheimer’s, and migraine headache are the three most burdensome neurological conditions in the United States according to the 2017 data from the Global Burden of Disease study. Stroke alone is the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S., and it exists as a condition that has historically had few treatments; yet today, treatments including intravenous and intra-arterial thrombolysis, clot retrieval, and other technologies have revolutionized care.During the fall 2020 measure evaluation cycle, NQF assembled a multistakeholder Standing Committee to evaluate one new measure related to stroke mortality. The measure was developed by Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation Center for Outcomes Research and Evaluation (YNHHSC/CORE) and stewarded by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and is titled as follows:Hospital 30-Day, All-Cause, Risk-Standardized Mortality Rate (RSMR) Following Acute Ischemic Stroke Hospitalization With Claims-Based Risk Adjustment for Stroke Severity (Yale New Haven Health Services Corporation/Center for Outcomes Research and EvaluationThis is a re-specified measure that was previously submitted in 2016 as NQF #2876 but did not pass endorsement as it did not adjust for stroke severity of patients upon admission to the hospital. The current specifications for this outcome measure are harmonized with the current publicly reported claims-based stroke mortality measure from CMS and includes the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Stroke Scale as an assessment of stroke severity upon admission in the risk adjustment model. The Neurology Standing Committee did not recommend the measure for endorsement. The measure received several public comments and was subsequently evaluated by the Consensus Standard Approval Committee (CSAC) on June 30, 2021. CSAC upheld the Standing Committee’s recommendation and did not endorse the measure.