Measuring What Matters

Measuring What Matters (MWM) is a consensus recommendation for a portfolio of performance measures for all hospice and palliative care programs to use for program improvement.

The Measuring What Matters team identified existing indicators that were then rated by mutiple panels to ultimately determine the Top 10 Measures That Matter. Read more about the findings and reccomendations of the consensus project in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

Read the Actual Measures List or Measure Concepts List.

Access the New Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list about MWM.
Access the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) list about MWM.
Access the Top Twelve Measures—Background Information, Evidence and Clinical User Panel (CUP) Comments.

Project Overview

Read about the history of the project and the organizations involved.

In the summer of 2013, AAHPM and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association (HPNA) - in consultation with the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC), the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), The Joint Commission, and numerous other stakeholders - initiated Measuring What Matters (MWM), which set forth to produce a consensus recommendation for a portfolio of performance measures that all hospice and palliative care programs could use for program improvement. The goal of MWM was to sort through all relevant published measures and select a concise set that would matter most for patients with palliative care needs across all settings. The belief is that voluntary adoption of these measures broadly in hospice and palliative care could lay the groundwork for benchmarking and meaningful comparison.

The Technical Advisory Panel (TAP) assisted in identifying measures to be prioritized, judging the technical strength of existing measures (such as reliability and validity), and helping with denominator creation. The Clinical User Panel (CUP) prioritized measures based on their importance and usefulness to the field. The project panelists sorted through the dozens of published quality measures for hospice and palliative care to select a small portfolio of recommended measures for use across all settings. Read more about the findings and recommendations of the consensus project in the Journal of Pain and Symptom Management.

What's new for the MWM project?

Methodological Research Priorities in Palliative Care and Hospice Quality Measurement

A team of researchers defined methodological priorities for advancing the science of quality measurement in this field based on discussions of the Technical Advisory Panel of the MWM project and subsequent strategy meeting. In the above article, three key priorities are described: 1) defining the denominator(s) (or the population of interest) for palliative care quality indicators, 2) developing methods to measure quality from different data sources, and 3) conducting research to advance the development of patient/family-reported indicators.

Two joint AAHPM-HPNA Working Groups are forming to continue the work of MWM: Technical Specifications for electronic Clinical Quality Measures (eCQMs) Working Group and the Quality Improvement (QI) Education and Strategies Working Group. We will continue to share updates on this work.

Journal of Pain and Symptom Management (JPSM) Series on Measuring What Matters

A special series in JPSM on the MWM project leverages the collective experience of the AAHPM Research Committee members and their individual research teams. During 2016, committee members published several Brief Reports that showcased current research using the MWM Top 10 items in the real palliative care setting. Links to the articles are below.

What can I get started on TODAY?

Take manageable steps that align with your existing measurement requirements. Identify priorities in your setting to evaluate and improve. Start with two or three measures that best fit your program, capacity and improvement goals. For hospices, it may be those already in the Hospice Item Set; others might use MWM measures to meet accreditation or maintenance of certification. Share your experience using the Journal of Pain & Symptom Management's Brief Quality Improvement Reports.

Quality Measurement Resources

Begin your quest to quality measurement by accessing these resources:

For more information, please contact Katherine Ast, MSW LCSW, Director of Quality and Research, at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .

Measuring What Matters Volunteers

View the chairs, members, and panels who dedicated their time to this initiative.

Panel Chairs and Members

David Casarett, MD MA, Co-Chair
Sally Norton, PhD RN FNAP FPCN FAAN, Co-Chair

Technical Advisory Panel

Sydney Dy, MD, Co-Chair
Susan McMillan, PhD ARNP FAAN, Co-Chair
Marie Bakitas, DNSc APRN NP-C AOCN ACHPN FAAN
Teresa Craig, CPA
Mary Ersek, PhD RN FAAN
Chris Feudtner, MD PhD MPH
Laura Hanson, MD MPH
Arif Kamal, MD
Lisa Lindley, PhD RN
Karl Lorenz, MD MSHS
Carol Spence, PhD
Martha Tecca, MBA
Joan Teno, MD MS

Clinical User Panel

Joe Rotella, MD MBA FAAHPM, Co-Chair
Keela Herr, PhD RN AGSF FAAN, Co-Chair
Michael Balboni, PhD ThM MDiv
Patricia Berry, PhD RN ACHPN FPCN FAAN
Cynthia Boyd, MD MPH
Janet Bull, MD
Ira Byock, MD
Barbara Daly, PhD RN FAAN
Kenneth Doka, PhD
Jennifer Eurek, CSW
Joy R. Goebel, PhD RN
Elizabeth Gundersen, MD FHM
Krista Lyn Harrison, PhD
Joan Harrold, MD MPH FACP FAAHPM
Jean Kutner, MD MSPH
Thomas Lee, MD
Suzana Makowski, MD MMM
Kelly McCutcheon Adams, LICSW
Deirdre Mylod, PhD
Marsha H. Nelson, ACSW MBA
Ritika Oberoi-Jassal, MD
Lynn Reinke, PhD ARNP
Christine Ritchie, MD MSPH FAAHPM
Michael Reynolds, MD
Eugenia Smither, BS RN CHC CHE CHP
Lisa Stephens, MSN APRN ACHPN
Rodney Tucker, MD MMM FAAHPM
Deborah Waldrop, PhD LMSW
Joanne Wolfe, MD MPH