Pulmonary and Critical Care 2015-2016 Final Report 

Chronic lower respiratory disease caused 138,000 deaths in 2010 and is the third leading cause of death in adults older than 18.  The treatment and management of respiratory disease places an enormous burden on the healthcare system, with an estimated economic cost of $106 billion for asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and pneumonia in 2009 ($81 billion in direct health expenditures and $25 billion in indirect costs of mortality).  Critical care is the specialized treatment of patients whose conditions are life-threatening and who require comprehensive care and constant monitoring, usually in intensive care units (ICUs); for critical care, there are approximately 6,000 ICUs in the United States, caring for over 55,000 critically ill patients each day. On March 15-16, 2016, NQF convened a new multistakeholder Pulmonary and Critical Care Standing Committee (PCC) composed of 23 individuals to evaluate 18 NQF-endorsed maintenance measures and 4 new measures related to the quality of pulmonary and critical care and make recommendations for NQF endorsement.  Thirteen measures were endorsed, and 1 measure received inactive endorsement with reserve status. The Committee did not endorse 6 measures. Two measures were deferred to other NQF committees for further evaluation.