What Our Participants Say About NOMS

Speech-language pathologists (SLPs) who provide services in a broad range of settings across the United States have used NOMS to measure outcomes since its inception in 1998. Our participants know that measuring outcomes is key to demonstrating the value of our profession while improving the quality of services that SLPs provide. The testimonials below attest to this.

While the healthcare industry historically has struggled to identify objective value measures to demonstrate to payers the quality of care we provide to our patients, NOMS has empowered us to highlight patient-focused outcomes. We have partnered with ASHA since 2003 to drive the quality and effectiveness of our therapy services. The unique collection process employed by NOMS allows us to analyze each functional communication measure (FCM), not only across settings in our organization, but also in comparison with the national outcomes database. This enables us to share vital information with our partners and other interested parties to continually strive to enhance the effectiveness of our speech-language treatments. FCMs fill a significant gap in capturing items not evaluated in other functional measurement tools that focus on mobility and self-care. We look forward to continuing our ongoing collaboration with ASHA.

We have participated in NOMS since it originated. Our CEO/president at the time wanted us to participate as a way to obtain information and collect data for reporting purposes and to secure funding. We are a not-for-profit organization, and over the years we’ve had to report to United Way and our local government to prove our worth and to show why what we do is important and how we improve the quality of people’s lives. One of the specific questions we are often asked is, ‘How do your outcomes compare to the national data?’ We are able to answer this question because with NOMS, we are able to compare our data to ASHA’s national data.

At Ensign Services, Inc. and affiliated locations, we made the organizational decision to participate in NOMS system-wide in 2014 to better prepare for current and future health care models. As health care shifts from volume-based to value-based reimbursement, we wanted to make sure Ensign Services, Inc., and affiliated locations had accurate data to reflect the value of our speech-language pathology services.

Incorporating evidence-based functional outcome measurement tools, such as NOMS, was one piece of our goal for facilitating coordinated care to ensure that our patients get high-quality care with fiscal accountability. NOMS participation allows us to share data with our health care partners and third-party payers.

At Ensign Services, Inc., and affiliated locations, we have a number of facilities participating in alternative payment models such as bundled payment for care improvement, accountable care organizations, and the Medicare Advantage Program. NOMS data allows us to evaluate our outcomes for neurological and respiratory patients specific to these payment models and compare ourselves to the national benchmarks. We also have a variety of managed care providers in our markets. Having accurate outcomes data has helped us in two key areas—negotiating our managed care contracts and supporting our SLPs’ requests for treatment authorizations at the facility level.

In addition to using outcomes data to demonstrate the value of our speech-language pathology services, our organization also uses data internally for quality improvement initiatives. ASHA’s NOMS dashboard allows us to quickly gather data to review and analyze how our facilities and organization as a whole [are] doing overall. Sometimes the data provide us with unanticipated information.

For example, based on the analytics, the data may identify where our outcomes are not optimal. We use this as an opportunity to improve our clinical programming to ensure that our patients are engaged in the right services that will allow for functional improvement. It’s important for our clinicians to understand clinical outcomes of the services they provide, and where they can continue to make improvements in their patterns of care.

We feel we are much further ahead by having this initiative in our organization and are grateful for the opportunity ASHA has provided through this collaborative partnership.