NQF held a special event to thoroughly examine how it endorses measures, specifically to make the process more agile and reduce the cycle time for measure submission and review. The proposed changes (PDF), reflected feedback from more than 40 private- and public-sector stakeholders—including experts from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and other federal agencies, NQF standing committees, and organizations that develop measures.

Based on this discussion and feedback from a survey of NQF members, NQF is proposing that every standing committee offer measure review twice a year, thus reducing committee downtime and allowing for more frequent opportunities for measures to be submitted and considered for endorsement. NQF would require measure developers and stewards to notify NQF in advance of their intent to submit measures for review to gain a better sense of the standing committees’ workload and to allow staff to better prepare.

In addition, stakeholders recommend that NQF establish a technical advisory panel to assist in conducting methodological reviews of submitted measures. Shifting the scientific, methodological review of measures to NQF staff and this advisory panel will allow for greater engagement and participation by consumers, patients, and purchasers on NQF standing committees.

“We’re continuously improving our processes to make measure endorsement more efficient, transparent, and inclusive of all stakeholders, including consumers and patients,” said Shantanu Agrawal, MD, NQF’s president and CEO. “These proposed changes reflect NQF’s commitment to getting to the best measures for better care, and better health, for all Americans.”

Additional recommendations include:

• Expanding the measure evaluation commenting period for the public and NQF members to 12 consecutive weeks
• Simplifying the structure and content of NQF measure evaluation reports
• Enhancing education and training for stakeholder participation and engagement
• Improving access to and exchange of measure information between the measure endorsement process and Measure Applications Partnership (MAP)
• Allow only NQF members to signal support for measures under review

NQF encouraged all stakeholders to review the proposed changes (PDF) and provide feedback through a public comment period that closed June 23. NQF will issue its final report on June 30 to highlight improvements to the process that will be implemented in late 2017.

Please contact NQF staff with any questions.