Child and Adult Health Care Quality Measures

Child and Adult Core Sets

The Medicaid and CHIP Core Sets of Health Care Quality measures, commonly referred to as the Child and Adult Core Sets, are sets of standardized health care quality measures that CMS and states can use to measure the quality of care delivered to the approximately 80 million Medicaid and CHIP beneficiaries and improve quality and health outcomes.

States submit state-level data to CMS annually, and CMS publicly publishes data on measures reported by at least 25 states that meet data quality standards. While historically voluntary, reporting of the Child Core Set and the behavioral health measures on the Adult Core Set became mandatory in 2024 for all states, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the U.S Virgin Islands, and Guam. CMS issued a final rule in August 2023 that outlined the mandatory reporting requirements.

Through annual guidance, CMS provides updates to the measures included in the Child and Adult Core Sets and specific annual reporting requirements.

• 2026 Child and Adult Core Sets Updates and Mandatory Reporting Guidance SHO 
• 2025 Child and Adult Core Sets Updates and Mandatory Reporting Guidance SHO
• Core Set Final Rule (published August 2023)
• Historical Policy Guidance