(a) In establishing an incentive payment program, the executive commissioner shall adopt common performance measures to be used in evaluating nursing facilities that are related to structure, process, and outcomes that positively correlate to nursing facility quality and improvement. The common performance measures:
(1) must be:
(A) recognized by the executive commissioner as valid indicators of the overall quality of care recipients receive; and
(B) designed to encourage and reward evidence-based practices among nursing facilities; and
(2) may include measures of:
(A) quality of care, as determined by clinical performance ratings published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or another federal agency;
(B) direct-care staff retention and turnover;
(C) recipient satisfaction, including the satisfaction of recipients who are short-term and long-term facility residents, and family satisfaction, as determined by the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Nursing Home Surveys relied on by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services;
(D) employee satisfaction and engagement;
(E) the incidence of preventable acute care emergency room services use;
(F) regulatory compliance;
(G) level of person-centered care; and
(H) direct-care staff training, including a facility’s use of independent distance learning programs for continuously training direct-care staff.
(b) The executive commissioner shall maximize the use of available information technology and limit the number of performance measures adopted under this section to achieve administrative cost efficiency and avoid an unreasonable administrative burden on participating nursing facilities.

Text of section effective on April 01, 2025