The general session speakers sparked timely and dynamic discussions about cost, quality, and value in healthcare and included West Health CEO Nicholas Valeriani, former Senator Bill Frist, MD, and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Acting Principal Deputy Administrator Patrick Conway, MD, MSc.

Dr. Conway shared progress regarding the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid’s shift toward payment reform to reward providers on the quality—not quantity—of healthcare services delivered in advance of the launch of HHS’ Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network on March 25.

Valeriani helped begin the day-and-a-half conference with insights on the value of medical device interoperability to improving healthcare delivery. Senator Frist closed the conference with thoughts about drivers of change in healthcare delivery and forward-thinking reforms.

NQF honored achievements in healthcare quality improvement by recognizing the recipients of two awards: the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards and NQF’s inaugural Consumers and Patients for Quality Award, which recognizes exceptional contributions of consumers and patient advocates to improving patient safety. Eisenberg Award honorees included Mark L Graber, MD, the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program, and North Shore-LIJ Health System.

A complete recording of the Annual Conference—featuring over 10 hours of programming and more than 35 featured guests—is now available. All NQF members have free and unlimited access to the recording as an exclusive benefit of NQF Membership. Access to the recording is available to non-Members for a fee.

The 2016 NQF Annual Conference is slated for April 7-8, 2016, in Washington, DC. For more information, please contact annualconference@qualityforum.org.