The ADvancing States and Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) are pleased to announce the release of a new report, National Core Indicators Aging and Disability Adult Consumer Survey: 2015-2016 National Results. The report highlights the commitment of participating states toward measuring and improving the quality of their long-term services and supports (LTSS) systems that serve seniors and adults with physical disabilities.

While states are the primary stewards of publicly funded LTSS, they have had few tools to measure the quality of these services and the outcomes of the people they serve. In particular, systemic approaches to measuring quality in LTSS, especially Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), have been limited. Those that do exist are focused on specific program funding streams (e.g., 1915(c) waivers, Medicaid-funded nursing homes), leaving states to piece together quality measures for other publicly funded programs in their LTSS systems.

To address this need, ADvancing States and HSRI worked with state Medicaid, Aging, and Disability Agencies to develop the National Core Indicators for Aging and Disabilities (NCI-AD). The NCI-AD is a consumer experience survey that collects valid and reliable person-reported data about the impact that states’ publicly funded LTSS have on the quality of life and outcomes of the seniors and adults with physical disabilities that states serve.

“States participating in NCI-AD will now be able to compare their data nationally and set benchmarks for quality in their LTSS systems, giving state leaders and decision makers the information they need to improve LTSS for the people they serve,” said Martha Roherty, Executive Director of ADvancing States.

“These data gives public managers in aging and disability systems the opportunity to hear the voices and experiences of the individuals they serve and to improve services based on their input,” said Val Bradley, President Emerita of HSRI.

From June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016, Colorado, Delaware, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Jersey, Ohio, Tennessee, and Texas, participated in the NCI-AD project. Combined, these states gathered over 13,000 survey responses from individuals receiving a variety of services across the LTSS spectrum.  The national report provides a broad overview of survey results across the participating states and their LTSS programs.

ADvancing States Board President and Deputy Executive Commissioner of the Medical and Social Services Division of Texas’ Health and Human Services Commission, Gary Jessee, said “having this kind of data is a powerful tool to help us measure quality in our state’s LTSS system.”

Click here to access the report.

The ADvancing States represents the nation’s 56 state and territorial agencies on aging and disabilities and supports visionary state leadership, the advancement of state systems innovation, and the articulation of national policies that support home and community based services for older adults and individuals with disabilities.

The Human Services Research Institute (HSRI) is a nonprofit, mission-driven organization that works with government agencies to improve human services and systems, enhance the quality of data to guide policy, and include the voices and guidance of self-advocates and people with lived experience.