Washington, DC - The National Quality Forum (NQF) has elected six new members to its Board of Directors.
The NQF Board of Directors guides NQF on strategic and policy issues. The Board is composed of 31 voting members - key public- and private- sector leaders who represent major stakeholders in America’s healthcare system. Consumers and those who purchase healthcare hold a simple majority of the at-large seats.
“NQF has the unique ability to bring together diverse members of the healthcare community to engage in efforts that catalyze improvement in healthcare,” said Christine Cassel, MD, president and CEO of NQF. “With the board’s leadership, NQF is focused on getting to better measures faster; making the current review and endorsement process more flexible to meet changing needs; and convening diverse stakeholders to spur action, innovation and improvement.”
The newly elected members include:
James Chase, president of Minnesota Community Measurement. Mr. Chase has over twenty five years of experience in health care management including eight years as Director of Health Purchasing for the government programs administered by the Minnesota Department of Human Services. He is the Past Chair of the Network of Regional Healthcare Improvement, a group of leading regional health initiatives working to improve the quality and value of health in their communities. He also serves on the boards of the Institute of Clinical Systems Improvement and Apple Tree Dental. Mr. Chase holds a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration from the University of Minnesota and has taught in the School’s ISP Health Administration Program.
Carol Cronin, executive director of the Informed Patient Institute. Since 2000, Ms. Cronin has worked as a consultant and advisor to a number of non-profit organizations, foundations and government agencies. These include The California Endowment, AARP, the Delmarva Foundation and L & M Research, the federal Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Atlantic Philanthropies, the Markle Foundation, the National Health Council, the Health Insurance Reform Project at George Washington University, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the California HealthCare Foundation. Previously, she was appointed the first director of the Center for Beneficiary Services at the Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA-now CMS), as well as in leadership positions in Washington D.C. for the employer-based Managed Health Care Association and the Washington (now National) Business Group on Health. She has Chaired and served on numerous Boards of Directors and technical, planning and advisory committees and is President of the Judy Family Foundation. Ms. Cronin holds an A.B. degree from Smith College and two Master’s degrees in Social Work and Gerontology from the University of Southern California.
Elizabeth J. Fowler, PhD, JD, vice president, Global Health Policy, in the Government Affairs & Policy group at Johnson & Johnson. Previously, she served as Special Assistant to the President for Healthcare and Economic Policy at the National Economic Council at the White House. She joined NEC after serving as Deputy Director for Policy of the Center for Consumer Information and Insurance Oversight (OCIIO) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. She served as Chief Health Counsel and Senior Counsel to the Chair to Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), vice president of public policy and external affairs for WellPoint, Inc., and as an attorney with the Washington law firm Hogan & Hartson. She was also a health services researcher with HealthSystem Minnesota. Dr. Fowler has a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, a Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where her research focused on risk adjustment, and a law degree (J.D.) from the University of Minnesota.
Marjorie Ginsburg, MPH, executive director, Center for Healthcare Decisions. As an RN, she worked in a variety of settings, from a hospital emergency department, to the United Farm Workers, Peace Corps in Nepal, a free clinic in Philly, and as a home care nurse in Baltimore and San Francisco. She started an adult day health center, and was a program administrator at the S.F. Institute on Aging. After a brief stint with California Health Decisions, she founded Sacramento Healthcare Decisions in 1994. In 2009, the organization changed its name to the Center for Healthcare Decisions. Ms. Ginsburg served in 2011 on the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Essential Health Benefits. She earned her Master’s Degree in Public Health at UC Berkeley.
Karen Ignagni, president and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans. Previously, Ms. Ignagni directed the AFL-CIO’s Department of Employee Benefits. She was a Professional Staff Member on the U.S. Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee and worked at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Ms. Ignagni regularly testifies before Congress on key federal legislation. In recent years, she has appeared before Senate and House committees on matters ranging from health insurance reform to patient protection issues and access to health care coverage issues. She is a frequent contributor to the national health care dialogue, appearing in NBC Nightly News, ABC News, CBS Evening News, CNN, Fox Business, New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Associated Press, Reuters, NPR, PBS, USA Today, New England Journal of Medicine, and Health Affairs.
David M. Shahian, MD, professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School, vice president of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Quality and Safety, and associate director of the MGH Codman Center for Clinical Effectiveness in Surgery. Dr. Shahian was Chair of the Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at the Lahey Clinic and served as President of the Medical Staff Association from 2000 to 2001. From 2004 to 2006, Dr. Shahian served as Chair of the Department of Surgery at Caritas St. Elizabeth’s Medical Center in Boston and Professor of Surgery at Tufts University School of Medicine. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Medical School, Dr. Shahian trained in general surgery at MGH and was a fellow in cardiothoracic surgery at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke’s Medical Center in Chicago.
Re-elected for second terms:
Ardis Dee Hoven, MD, president of the American Medical Association (AMA). An internal medicine and infectious disease specialist in Lexington, Ky., Dr. Hoven became the 168th president of the AMA in June 2013. Dr. Hoven received her undergraduate degree in microbiology and then her medical degree from the University of Kentucky, Lexington. She completed her internal medicine and infectious disease training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Board-certified in internal medicine and infectious disease, Dr. Hoven is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and the Infectious Disease Society of America. In 2013, Dr. Hoven was named one of Modern Healthcare Magazine’s Top 25 Women in Healthcare.
Dolores Mitchell, executive director of the Group Insurance Commission. Mrs. Mitchell has been in this position since 1987, serving in the administrations of Governors Dukakis, Weld, Cellucci, Swift, Romney, and now Governor Deval Patrick. Mrs. Mitchell is currently serving as President of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Board of Directors, is a board member of the National Quality Forum, and was recently re-appointed as a member of the Measures Application Partnership. She is a former Chairman and current board member of the Big Sister Association and the Massachusetts Women's Political Caucus. Mrs. Mitchell is a frequent speaker on health care, politics, women's career issues, and related subjects.
The newly elected members will begin their terms on December 6 and will serve a three-year term, joining the rest of the NQF Board which includes:
- Helen Darling, MA (Chair), National Business Group on Health
- Lawrence M. Becker (Treasurer), Xerox Corporation
- Christine Cassel, MD, National Quality Forum
- Jack Cochran, MD, FACS, The Permanente Federation
- Maureen Corry, Childbirth Connection
- Leonardo Cuello, National Health Law Program
- Joyce Dubow, American Association of Retired Persons
- Robert Galvin, MD, MBA, The Blackstone Group
- Ardis D. Hoven, MD, American Medical Association
- Donald Kemper, Healthwise, Inc.
- William Kramer, Pacific Business Group on Health
- Harold D. Miller, MS, Quality and Payment Reform
- Dolores L. Mitchell, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Group Insurance Commission
- Elizabeth Mitchell, Network for Regional Health Improvement
- Mary Naylor, PhD, RN, FAAN, New Courtland Center for Transitions & Health and Marian S. Ware Professor in Gerontology
- Debra L. Ness, National Partnership for Women & Families
- J. Marc Overhage, MD, PhD, Siemens Medical Solutions, Inc.
- William L. Roper, MD, MPH, UNC Health Care System, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, America's Essential Hospitals
- John Tooker, MD, MBA, FACP, American College of Physicians, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
- Richard J. Umbdenstock, FACHE (Rich), American Hospital Association
- Marilyn Tavenner, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services
- Richard Kronick, PhD, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Mary Wakefield, PhD, RN, Health Resources and Service Administration, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
- Thomas R. Frieden, MD, MPH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Ex Officio Members
- Frank Opelka, MD, FACS, Louisiana State University
- Paul C. Tang, MD, MS, Palo Alto Medical Foundation
The National Quality Forum 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.
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