Coalitions, policymakers, and other community leaders are advancing initiatives at the state and local levels to improve the care experience for people with serious illness. But how do we know that we have achieved our Moonshot goals at the local, state, and federal levels? And how do we ensure that the public policies we advocate align with what works on the ground?
C-TAC’s ACT Index is a source for members to get up-to-date information about the current care experience and identify the leading drivers – such as advance care planning — that will impact outcomes. Originally comprised of 37 existing measures across 5 measurement domains, the ACT Index was developed as a way for leaders to understand the impact at the state level.
Our partners have used the Index as a catalyst over the past few years, for instance:
- AZ Hospital and Healthcare Association (AZHHA) used the Index to convene stakeholders to design a value-based care model in Arizona.
- Hawaii Med-QUEST Division (MQD) used the Index measures to understand the current experience of people with serious illness and develop a palliative care benefit that can be accessed by Medicaid beneficiaries at their homes or in the community.
This year, the ACT Index is undergoing a transformation of its own. Under the advisement of the C-TAC Board, invited stakeholders, and data experts, we reduced the measures to 26 in 4 domains. The measures included in the Index address four key domains that must be addressed for those with serious illness; these include Care, Costs, Community & Caregivers, and Communications. The measures represent two types: 1. patient and family surveys of the patient care experience, and 2. transactional care processes such as cost, hospital readmissions, and home health visits.
The ACT Index 2.0 will incorporate new data, produce actionable insights, and provide recommendations to advance policy and test new care and payment models. Join us on October 24-25 at the C-TAC Summit in Washington DC, where we will release a new report that will showcase revised measures, case studies of change, and point the way toward payment reform to support community and state action.
