At least two months before the start of a project, NQF issues a formal call for candidate standards. Currently, there are two types of calls for standards: a call for measures and a call for practices. Based upon the scope and objective of the consensus development project, NQF may initially issue a call for practices, and issue a subsequent call for measures at a later date.
Call for Measures
NQF’s current understanding of the term performance measure draws heavily on the work of the Institute of Medicine (IOM). A performance measure, according to the IOM definition, is the “numeric quantification of healthcare quality.” IOM defines quality as “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.” Thus, performance measures can measure and quantify healthcare processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational structure and/or systems that are associated with the ability to provide high-quality care.
Each candidate measure or set of measures will have a measure steward who will assume responsibility for the submission of the measure for potential endorsement to NQF. The measure steward is responsible for making the necessary updates to the measure, and for informing NQF about any changes that are made to the measure on an annual basis. The measure steward is also responsible for providing the required measure information for the measure maintenance process that occurs approximately every three years.
NQF posts Measure Submission Forms for its projects on the website to obtain ongoing public input during the consensus standards review process Measure Submission Forms will become part of the historical project documentation and will remain on NQF's website after the endorsement decision. Information in the posted Measure Submission Forms reflects the originally submitted measure specifications provided to NQF by the Measure Steward. Over time, this information may change as a result of the consensus development process or measure specification updates. To obtain the most up-to-date measure specifications, users should contact the Measure Steward directly.
To submit a measure, a measure steward must complete and submit the online form through the NQF website.
NQF is now using an online Measure
Submission Form Version 5.0. The new online form includes a variety of new features and allows the user to:
- Gain secure access to the submission form from any location with an internet connection;
- Save a draft version of the form and return to complete it at their convenience; and
- Print a hard copy of the submission form for your reference.
To review the questions included in the measure submission form, a print view of the online form (PDF) is available. For more information, please consult the Users' Guide to NQF's Online Measure Submission Form (PDF).
All candidate consensus measures are evaluated against NQF’s Measure Evaluation Criteria.
If the measure to be submitted is not in the public domain, the measure steward must also complete and submit the following form:
Call for Practices
A practice is a specific process or manner of providing healthcare services or organization-level activities that, when executed, effectively leads to improved outcomes.
For those areas in which measures of performance do not yet exist, an NQF-endorsed best practice can provide a structured perspective for assessing, evaluating the development, expansion, and modification of new and existing programs. All NQF-endorsed practices are evidence-based and often, endorsement of one or more best practices serves as a step toward the eventual creation of performance measures by measure developers and subsequent evaluation of those measures by NQF.
To submit a practice, a practice owner must complete and electronically submit the following form for each practice they wish to be considered:
