NQF Removes Time-Limited Endorsement for 13 Measures; Measures Now Have Endorsed Status 

Washington, DC - the National Quality Forum (NQF) Board of Directors has removed time-limited endorsement status from 13 measures focused on patient safety, cardiovascular and surgical care, mental health, patient experience, and prevention.

NQF time-limited endorsement is applied to measures that meet all of NQF’s endorsement criteria with the exception of field testing and are critical to advancing quality improvement. When measures are granted this two-year endorsement rather than the traditional three year period, measure developers must test the measure and return results to NQF within the two-year window.

The statuses of the measures were removed after the Board determined field testing results adequately addressed endorsement considerations including reliability and validity, and that there were no unintended consequences or patient harm as a result of measure testing and implementation.

These measures will begin their regular three-year maintenance review in 2013 and 2014. At this time, they will undergo a complete evaluation based on all of NQF’s updated measure criteria.

Measures List 

• 0508: Inappropriate use of “probably benign” assessment category in mammography screening (PCPI)
• 0509: Reminder system for mammograms (PCPI)
• 0510: Exposure time reported for procedures using fluoroscopy (PCPI)
• 0713: Ventriculoperitoneal (VP) shunt malfunction rate in children (Children’s Hospital Boston)
• 0714: Standardized mortality ratio for neonates undergoing non-cardiac surgery (Children’s Hospital Boston)
• 0715: Standardized adverse event ratio for children 18 years of age undergoing cardiac catheterization (Children’s Hospital Boston)
• 0725: Validated family-centered survey questionnaire for parents’ and patients’ experiences during inpatient pediatric hospital stay (Children’s Hospital Boston)
• 0674: Percent of Residents Experiencing One or More Falls with Major Injury (Long Stay) (CMS)
• 0676: Percent of Residents Who Self-Report Moderate to Severe Pain (Short-Stay) (CMS)
• 0677: Percent of Residents Who Self-Report Moderate to Severe Pain (Long-Stay) (CMS)
• 0678: Percent of Residents with Pressure Ulcers That Are New or Worsened (Short-Stay) (CMS)
• 0679: Percent of High Risk Residents with Pressure Ulcers (Long Stay) (CMS)
• 0690: Percent of Residents Who Have Depressive Symptoms (Long-Stay) (CMS)

NQF operates under a three-part mission to improve the quality of American healthcare by:

• building consensus on national priorities and goals for performance improvement and working in partnership to achieve them;
• endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance; and
• promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs.