Every standing committee will now review measures twice a year to
allow for more frequent opportunities for measures to be submitted and
considered for endorsement and make more efficient use of NQF committee expertise.
Beginning with the April 2018 measure review, NQF will require measure
developers and stewards to notify NQF in advance of their intent to submit
measures for endorsement to gauge in advance the workload for standing
committees workload and ensure staff to needed time to prepare.
In addition, NQF has established a Scientific
Methods Panel to assist in conducting methodological reviews of submitted,
complex measures. Shifting the scientific, methodological review of these measures
to this panel and NQF staff will allow for greater engagement and participation
by consumers, patients, and purchasers on NQF standing committees.
“The changes to NQF’s endorsement process highlight the transformation
underway at NQF to make measure endorsement more efficient, foster innovation,
and enable greater access to NQF expertise,” said Shantanu Agrawal, MD, NQF’s
president and CEO. “These changes reflect our commitment to improving
quality—for better care and better health for all Americans.”
Additional improvements in NQF’s measure endorsement process
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)
- Allowing only NQF members to signal their support
for measures under review
The changes, outlined in the 2017
Consensus Development Process Redesign report (PDF), reflect feedback from a
special event during which NQF thoroughly examined how it endorses measures,
specifically to make the process more agile and reduce the cycle time for
measure submission and review. 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, also provided input, as did NQF members
and the public.
Phased implementation of some of these changes began this summer.
Additional changes are being implemented with direction from NQF’s governance
committee and Board of Directors.
Please refer to the frequently asked questions (PDF)
or contact NQF staff with
any questions.