Top Things to Know: 2026 Clinical Performance and Quality Measures for Patients With PAD
Published: January 08, 2026
- This document describes performance measures for peripheral artery disease (PAD) that are appropriate for public reporting or pay-for-performance programs.
- The performance measures are selected from the strongest recommendations (Class 1 or 3) from the 2024 Guideline for the Management of Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease.
- Quality measures, some of which are based on Class 2 recommendations, are also provided. These measures are not yet ready for public reporting or pay-for-performance programs but will be useful to clinicians and health care organizations for quality improvement.
- This document describes performance measures for peripheral artery disease (PAD) that are appropriate for public reporting or pay-for-performance programs.
- The performance measures are selected from the strongest recommendations (Class 1 or 3) from the 2024 A Guideline for the Management of Lower Extremity Peripheral Artery Disease.
- Quality measures, some of which are based on Class 2 recommendations, are also provided. These measures are not yet ready for public reporting or pay-for-performance programs but will be useful to clinicians and health care organizations for quality improvement.
- Four new performance measures have been added to the document that are related to medical therapies for individuals with PAD (blood pressure management, use of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, diabetes management, and use of antithrombotic therapy).
- Five new quality measures have also been added: preventive foot care, lipid lowering with novel drugs, evaluation of health disparities, saphenous vein assessment prior to revascularization, and multidisciplinary treatment for individuals with chronic limb-threatening ischemia.
- For all but 2 measures (i.e., PM-6 Tobacco Use and PM-7 Exercise Therapy), if the clinician determines the care is inappropriate for the patient, that patient is excluded from the measure.
- For all measures, patients who decline treatment or care are excluded.
- To reflect the increasing importance of evaluation of disparities faced by patients with PAD, a quality measure highlighting the role of disparities in the identification and treatment of PAD is introduced.
- A patient-centered discussion of the benefits and risks of treatments for PAD, especially involving a multidisciplinary care team, is included as a quality measure.
- Areas for further measurement and development of future performance measures are discussed.
Citation
Goodney PP, Ross EG, Bruckel JT, Alabi O, Altin SE, Bauer K, Diekemper RL, Gerhard-Herman MD, Johnston LE, Martin VT, Morrison AM, Patel PJ, Rodriguez-Miguelez P, Rymer JA, Stewart KJ, Tower DE, Treat-Jacobson DJ, Velazquez G, Wiley J. 2026 ACC/AHA clinical performance and quality measures for patients with peripheral artery disease: a report of the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Joint Committee on Performance Measures. Circ Popul Health Outcomes. 2025;18:e000142. doi: 10.1161/HCQ.0000000000000142