August 31, 2026. Now in Production for Blues: Hospital Quality Measures (HQM) & HCAHPS in Quality Measures
For Blues customers, we've expanded the Quality Measures section to include Hospital Quality Measures (HQM) and HCAHPS (Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems) Patient Experience data, giving members a fuller picture of hospital quality right on the profile page.
What's New
Hospital Quality Measures (HQM): Members can see how a hospital performs on national clinical safety and quality benchmarks, including infection rates and outcomes for specific conditions, shown as a simple comparison to the national benchmark (Meets Expectations, Below Expectations, Above Expectations).
Measures Included
Cesarean Birth
Risk Adjusted Severe Obstetric Complications (All)
Risk Adjusted Severe Obstetric Complications (excluding blood-transfusion-only cases)
HCAHPS Patient Experience: Members can now see real patient feedback on communication, cleanliness, and overall hospital experience, shown as an easy-to-read star rating.
Measures Included
Overall Patient Rating
Total Value Based Performance for the HCAHPS Domain
Nurses always communicated well
Doctors always communicated well
Patients always received help as soon as they wanted
Staff always explained
Patients who "Agree" they understood their care when they left the hospital
Always quiet at night
Room was always clean
One Combined View: HQM and HCAHPS both display within the Quality Measures section at the bottom of a profile page, so members see clinical quality data and real patient feedback together in one place.
Profile Page Showing the Quality Measures Section with HQM and HCAHPS Displayed Together
Before this update, members had limited visibility into hospital quality and no access to real patient experience data. With HQM and HCAHPS now included, members get trusted, nationally-benchmarked information alongside authentic patient feedback, helping them choose care with more confidence.
Not every hospital will display every measure listed above. HQM and HCAHPS measures only display when we receive data for that specific measure at that hospital, so the measures shown will vary by hospital.
Impacted Customers This update applies to all Blues customers and is auto-on in production now.
/ Compliance
September 8, 2026. CMS Opens MPF Provider Directory Preview Tool Early CMS has opened its Medicare Plan Finder (MPF) Provider Directory preview tool in HPMS, letting MA organizations verify their directory data before it goes live on Medicare Plan Finder.
Earlier than planned: CMS originally targeted September 18 for this preview window. It will go live September 8, 2026, and will stay available on an ongoing basis.
What it checks: Users search by Contract ID, Plan ID, Segment ID, zip code, and/or NPI number(s) to confirm that provider and facility results (name, specialty, locations, etc.) match what will display on MPF. Results can be exported to CSV.
If something looks wrong: Check your JSON/FHIR feed formatting first. If the issue persists, submit feedback through CMS's survey link.
Access needed: HPMS production access with the "MPF Benefits Preview (0031)" permission tied to your contract numbers.
Before this, organizations had no way to confirm their directory data would display correctly until CMS's public-facing Plan Finder went live for CY2027. This preview window gives you a compliance and QA checkpoint to catch discrepancies ahead of time.
We recommend using this tool starting September 8 to review your directory listings before the public launch.
/ Reminder: CMS Medicare Plan Finder Information Sessions
Join our upcoming information session on Wednesday, September 9, 2026, where we'll go deeper into the technical requirements and compliance steps your team needs before the Production cutover onFriday, September 18, 2026.
Next Session Details
Date: Wednesday, September 9th
Time: 12:00 PM PST | 3:00 PM EST
Topic: Phase II CMS Medicare Plan Finder Info Session
/Extending CMS Info Sessions — Now Weekly Through October 7
We're extending the CMS Info Sessions cadence to weekly, running through Wednesday, October 7.
Upcoming schedule
This Wednesday, September 9: Webinar session. [Register here]
The following week, September 16: Customer Roundtable, with a focus on Medicare Plan Finder (CY2027 Phase II updates and compliance readiness). [Register here]
The weeks after that, September 23, September 30, and October 7: Final three webinar sessions in this series. [Register here]
/ September Roundtable
Join our product and customer success experts on Wednesday, September 16th at 12:00 PM PST | 3:00 PM EST for our monthly Health Plan Roundtable to hear about upcoming enhancements, roadmap highlights, and opportunities.
