NQF Honors Consumers’ CHECKBOOK Founder Robert Krughoff with Inaugural Consumers and Patients for Quality Award 

Washington, DC — The National Quality Forum (NQF) will award its inaugural Consumers and Patients for Quality Award to Robert Krughoff, founder and president of the Center for the Study of Services (CSS)/Consumers’ CHECKBOOK. The award is in recognition of Krughoff’s leadership role in improving transparency in healthcare and promoting greater consumer understanding of healthcare information.

Established by NQF this year, the Consumers and Patients for Quality Award recognize the outstanding contributions of consumers and patient advocates to improving healthcare quality. Honorees will be selected annually.

Krughoff was selected for the award by an NQF jury panel that unanimously acknowledged his lifetime work as a nationally recognized consumer advocate dedicated to helping consumers make more informed choices about their healthcare. Krughoff founded CSS/Consumers’ CHECKBOOK, an independent non-profit organization that publishes products designed to help consumers make smarter choices about their healthcare, such as its Guide to Top Doctors, Consumers’ Guide to Hospitals, Guide to Health Plans for Federal Employees and Retirees, and a model plan comparison tool (healthplanratings.org) developed to help consumers shopping on the Affordable Care Act exchanges select the health insurance plans that best meet the needs and preferences of themselves and their families.

CSS/Consumers’ CHECKBOOK has been at various times over the years the survey administrator/consultant for various large-scale surveys in which patients are asked to evaluate their physicians, hospitals, and health plans, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) surveys of members of Medicare Advantage and Prescription Drug Plans.

“Robert has made significant contributions to improving healthcare quality,” said Christine K. Cassel, MD, president and CEO of NQF. “By assuring the availability of timely, accurate, and easy-to-use information, CSS/Consumers’ CHECKBOOK has contributed to helping Americans save money and obtain better care, and has influenced healthcare providers and plans to be more efficient and responsive to consumers.”

Krughoff is an NQF member and has served on advisory and study panels for NQF and other organizations including the Institute of Medicine and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The award will be presented at NQF’s 2015 Annual Conference on March 23-24, 2015, in Washington, D.C. 

The National Quality Forum leads national collaboration to improve health and healthcare quality through measurement. Learn more at www.qualityforum.org.