“We applaud the leadership of the Senate and the entire Congress for taking important action to stand for quality,” said Shantanu Agrawal, MD, MPhil, NQF’s president and CEO. “Congress took a stand for Medicare beneficiaries and all Americans—as well as the clinicians who care for them—with a funding commitment that puts patients first.”

The Act uses a combination of newly authorized funds and unspent funds dedicated to advance quality, improve care, and reduce costs. Previous authorizations funded NQF at $30 million annually.

More than 130 organizations, including those representing the majority of the nation’s physicians, voiced their support for the critically important role of meaningful and fair quality measures to ensure safe and good healthcare for the nation’s 58 million Medicare beneficiaries. These organizations were led in their efforts as the Friends of NQF by Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, and Debra Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families.

Both the Friends of NQF and NQF’s Board of Directors helped to make a compelling case for NQF on Capitol Hill.

“This was a year-long concerted effort by a strong coalition of national healthcare organizations committed to quality and NQF,” said Agrawal. “We’re pleased to note that the bipartisan commitment to ensuring life-saving, high-quality, and high-value care continues in this Congress.”