Glossary

A parameter estimate provides a statistical approximation of a specific measure describing a population.

A patient-reported outcome (PRO) is a status report of a patient’s health condition or health behavior that comes directly from the patient, without interpretation of the patient’s response by a clinician or anyone else. This definition reflects the key domains of

• Health-related quality of life (including functional status)
• Symptoms and symptom burden (e.g., pain, fatigue)
• Health behaviors (e.g., smoking, diet, exercise)

(Adapted from the Food and Drug Administration. (2009). Guidance for industry PRO measures: Use in medical product development to support labeling claims. https://www.fda.gov/regulatory-information/search-fda-guidance-documents/patient-reported-outcome-measures-use-medical-product-development-support-labeling-claims) 

A patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) is an instrument, scale, or single-item measure used for assessing a patient-reported outcome concept as perceived by the patient, obtained by directly asking the patient to self-report

A patient-reported outcome-based performance measure (PRO-PM) is a performance measure based on patient-reported outcome measure (PROM) data aggregated for an accountable health care entity. Measured entities collect the data directly from the patient using the PROM tool, which can be an instrument, scale, or single-item measure.

A point estimate provides a single value to use from a sample to estimate the population parameter.

Population, Intervention, Comparator group, Outcomes, Time interval, Settings (PICOTS) is a framework for delineating clinical questions facilitating identification of relevant research evidence. For example, among adults with non-cancer-related pain (Population) who receive an opioid pain medication (Intervention) versus a non-opioid pain medication or placebo (Comparator), what are the effects on ratings of pain, functioning, and quality of life (Outcome) within 3 months of treatment (Time) in outpatient settings of care (Setting)? Chang, S. M. and Matchar, D. B. (Eds.). (2012, June). Methods guide for medical test reviews. AHRQ Publication No. 12-EHC017. Retrieved March 20. 2024, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK98241/pdf/Bookshelf_NBK98241.pdf

A process measure is a measure focusing on steps that should be followed to provide good care. There should be a scientific basis for believing the process, when executed well, will increase the probability of achieving a desired outcome.

Program Candidate measures are measures not yet adopted for use in a CMS quality reporting program. The measure specifications use versions of standards and tools designated for a specific reporting/performance period. Program Candidate measures are not eligible for CMS quality reporting until CMS proposes and finalizes through notice-and-comment rulemaking for each applicable program.

A proportion is a score derived by dividing the number of cases meeting a criterion for quality (the numerator) by the number of eligible cases within a given time frame (the denominator) where the numerator cases are a subset of the denominator cases (for example, percentage of eligible women with a mammogram performed in the last year).