NQF’s Leadership Consortium Piloting Recommendations for Social Determinants of Health Data in Real Healthcare Settings 

Washington, DC – A multistakeholder group of experts and advocates from throughout the healthcare sector meets this week for the first of six meetings as part of an ambitious initiative to drive equitable healthcare and health outcomes. Convened by the National Quality Forum (NQF), the Leadership Consortium is a longstanding, prestigious forum for leading healthcare quality experts to identify actionable strategies to improve healthcare quality and drive lasting change in key areas.

Consortium members have prioritized making effective use of social determinants of health (SDOH) data to improve patient outcomes and increase health equity, specifically by connecting patients with community resources. SDOH are nonmedical factors that influence health outcomes.

“We are on a journey to understand how to accurately and effectively screen for social drivers of health,” said Consortium Co-Chair Reena Duseja, MD, MS, Senior Advisor, Assistant Under Secretary for Health for Quality and Patient Safety for the Veterans Health Administration. “Stakeholders including health systems, accreditors, and payers are calling for SDOH standards that can be applied across the healthcare ecosystem, are scalable, and ultimately improve patients’ health outcomes.”

This iteration of the Leadership Consortium is the first under a new structure designed to strengthen the initiative’s impact for broader system improvement. In 2022, NQF expanded the Consortium’s scope, moving from a one-year to a two-year cycle with the second year dedicated to piloting recommendations defined during year one in a new phase called the Implementation Collaborative.

“This is exciting because we are moving from theory to action to address social determinants of health,” said Co-Chair Peter Angood, MD, FRCS(C), FACS, MCCM, President and CEO of the American Association for Physician Leadership. “We are going to learn a lot from these pilot programs about how to use SDOH data in real-world scenarios to drive better healthcare and better health outcomes. The Implementation Collaborative represents a new direction for NQF that will strengthen the Leadership Consortium’s impact.”

Over the course of the year, the group will track and review the progress of pilot projects, share lessons learned, and discuss important data utilization issues. At the conclusion of the Implementation Collaborative, NQF will gather and share insights gleaned from the pilot programs to improve the effect of SDOH data utilization on health outcomes. Participation in the Leadership Consortium is an exclusive opportunity reserved for NQF Member Organizations.

About National Quality Forum>
The National Quality Forum (NQF) works with members of the healthcare community to drive measurable health improvements together. NQF is a not-for-profit, membership-based organization that gives all healthcare stakeholders a voice in advancing quality measures and improvement strategies that lead to better outcomes and greater value. Learn more at www.qualityforum.org.