Pulmonary and Critical Care Consensus Standards Endorsement Maintenance 

Chronic lung disease—asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia—affects some 33 million Americans and is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Asthma alone afflicts an estimated 23 million people, including seven million children who miss 14 million days of school a year because of it. COPD cost the nation $50 billion in 2010, and an estimated 1.2 million hospital discharges were attributable to pneumonia in 2006. Accordingly, NQF conducted a project focused on identifying a broad set of pulmonary and critical care measures. This report summarizes the evaluation and endorsement of 22 related measures.