2013 Annual Conference 

2013 Conference | 2012 Conference 

The Next Decade of Performance Measurement:
Meeting the Needs of a Rapidly Changing Healthcare System

NEW! 2013 Annual Conference Wrap-Up (PDF) 

Ten years ago, the National Quality Forum (NQF) endorsed its first voluntary, national consensus performance measure to answer the call for standardized measurement of health care services. This first measure was a stepping-stone for creating a consensus-driven effort that bridged nearly every interested party in health care. The ten-year result of this national experiment is a portfolio of over 700 NQF-endorsed measures – most of which are in use; a more information-rich health care system; and an enormous emerging body of knowledge about measure development, measure use, and quality improvement.

Health care policy and delivery have changed considerably in these ten years, and the American healthcare system is at a crossroads. The broader quality community is adapting to these new realities, acknowledging challenges we need to address together:

• The NQF measures portfolio needs new measures that address the health care issues of tomorrow: new payment models, patient-reported outcomes, achieving affordability and value. We need to redouble efforts to fill key measurement gaps rather than just identifying them, using an open and collaborative process between those who develop, test, endorse, and use measures. 
• As measure use has proliferated, providers now face a tsunami of misaligned measurement demands from the public and private sectors. We need to use the same measures across and within sectors whenever possible to make measurement more efficient and less burdensome. 
• Those who use measures lack a coordinated space to provide their input and knowledge into, hindering national efforts to understand the full impact of the measures we already have in place. We need the insight and leadership of all organizations that use measures in the field to help develop ‘feedback loops’ that will capture actual experience data to enrich future measure development, endorsement, and use. 
• Consumers and purchasers who want to make decisions based on value lack consistent and comprehensible measure information. We need comparable measurement results in language and formats that everyone can access and understand. 
• Electronic measurement holds great promise to help with all of the above, but is complex and difficult to implement. We need to accelerate initial efforts to support the transition to e-measures and build a dynamic learning network between electronic health record experts and the performance measure community as a way to advance the development and deployment of e-measures. 

The 2013 NQF Annual Conference focused on the future of performance measurement, capturing the experiences of those who contribute to each domain. This includes health care providers, the federal government, state Medicaid agencies, consumers, patients and their caregivers, employers that purchase health care benefits on behalf of their employees, and coalitions and others in local communities.

Through formal presentations, panel discussions, and multiple breakout working sessions, NQF hopes that all participants will join together to address these future challenges, help develop solutions, and discover new collaborations that will enhance the effectiveness of performance measurement as a part of achieving health care quality. Networking opportunities will also allow NQF members from across the country to connect in person.