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Patient Safety

NQF and Patient Safety

NQF’s mission is to improve the quality of healthcare. Patient safety is central to achieving our mission. We know that reducing harm and preventable medical errors saves lives and lowers healthcare costs, a goal shared by everyone that touches the healthcare system.

Patient safety is one of the six aims included in the National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care released in March 2011 by the Department of Health and Human Services. It has also been one of the national priorities outlined by the NQF-convened National Priorities Partnership.

See our efforts in patient safety this year and over the past 10 years.

Measuring Patient Safety

Of the over 600 NQF endorsed measures, approximately 100 are patient-safety focused. NQF has also endorsed 34 Safe Practices for Better Healthcare and 28 Serious Reportable Events. Despite these achievements, there are still significant gaps in the measurement of patient safety. Through convening, technical panels, and other educational forums, NQF works with measure developers and others in healthcare to help understand measurement gaps and encourage strategies to fill them.

Reporting Results

NQF has published a number of reports to encourage providers to adopt best practices and eliminate serious reportable events (SREs). State based reporting has also been enacted in 26 states and the District of Columbia to help providers identify and learn from serious reportable events. By spotlighting national reporting efforts, NQF plays a vital role in encouraging those who provide care to make it safer, and helping people make informed care choices.

Improving Care

We can only improve what we can measure and report on. No one knows this better than our John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award winners. Their efforts inspire us and others to become champions of patient safety and improvement.

NQF and Patient Safety, in past years

Review below the reports, projects, and issue briefs that have impacted our healthcare community throughout the years.

2011

JUN 2011	A Patient Safety Measures: Complications Endorsement Maintenance project began in June 2011.
MAY 2011	The NQF Board chose to ratify the updated Serious Reportable Events (SREs) that sought to define healthcare acquired conditions (HACs), develop an expanded list of HACs relevant to non-hospital settings.
MAY 2011	The CDP project, Patient Safety Measures, seeks to identify and endorse cross-cutting patient safety measures across conditions, populations, and settings of care.

2010

JUN 2010	NQF looks at state reporting and how states provide lessons in reducing harm and improving care.
APR 2010	The Safe Practices - 2010 Update presents 34 practices that have been demonstrated to be effective in reducing the occurrence of adverse healthcare events.
JAN 2010	NQF put forth a framework that evaluates efficiency across patient-focused episodes of care.

2009

NOV 2009	A Patient Safety Measures project began - focusing on Health Associated Infections (HAIs).
SEP 2009	A Safety Reporting Framework project began focusing on healthcare-acquired conditions (HACs).
SEP 2009	A Serious Reportable Events project began focusing specifically on serious reportable events (SREs).
AUG 2009	Three composite measures were assessed using an evaluation criteria: Mortality for Selected Conditions, Pediatric Patient Safety for Selected Indicators, and Patient Safety for Selected Indicators.
APR 2009	Seven standards comprise guidance for design and implementation strategies for Internet-based public reporting on the healthcare quality of acute care hospitals in the United States.
APR 2009	Six preferred practices have been endorsed to drive quality improvement within the pre- and post-analytic laboratory phases.
MAR 2009	Safe Practices for Better Healthcare were updated to reflect current evidence and offer additional implementation guidance including measures of implementation.

2008

OCT 2008	Six measures address venous thromboembolism (VTE), the most common preventable cause of hospital death, have ben endorsed by NQF.
OCT 2008	NQF summarizes their work on Serious Reportable Events (SREs).
APR 2008	Six preferred practices have been endorsed to drive quality improvement within the pre- and post-analytic laboratory phases.
MAR 2008	Safe Practices for Better Healthcare were updated to reflect current evidence and offer additional implementation guidance including measures of implementation.

2007

OCT 2007	NQF endorsed a set of guidelines for consumer-focused public reporting of quality information, specifically acute care hospitals and use of web-based reports.
JUL 2007	NQF endorses standards for Patient Experience with Care.

2006

DEC 2006	NQF endorsed a patient safety taxonomy which was intended to provide a standardized approach to organizing patient safety events in a way that would facilitate analysis, understanding, and system improvements.
DEC 2006	Serious Reportable Events in Healthcare was updated with the addition of a new event in care management. (published March 2007)
DEC 2006	Safe Practices for Better Healthcare was updated with material change to all but 4 of the practices. (published March 2007)
DEC 2006	NQF released a statement of organizational policy, two process measures, and 17 key characteristics of preferred practices related to the prevention and care of venous thromboembolism.

2005

OCT 2005	NQF convened a workshop, Improving Use of Prescription Medications: A National Action Plan.
SEP 2005	NQF published Improving Patient Safety Through Informed Consent for Patients with Limited Health Literacy as part of its effort to facilitate informed patient engagement in their healthcare decisions.

2004

OCT 2004

National Priorites for Healthcare Quality Measurement and Reporting presents 23 priorities for healthcare quality measurement and reporting endorsed by NQF in 2004.

2003

MAY 2003	A Comprehensive Framework for Hospital Care Performance Evaluation contains a roadmap for directing the selection of hospital care performance measures.
MAY 2003	Safe Practices 2003 details 30 healthcare safe practices that should be universally utilized in applicable clinical care settings to reduce the risk of harm to patients.

2002

JUL 2002	A National Framework for Healthcare Quality Measurement and Reporting contains a comprehensive framework and standardized process for hospital quality measurement and reporting.
JUN 2002	Serious Reportable Events in Healthcare identifies 27 serious adverse events that should be reported by all licensed healthcare facilities.

1999

OCT 1999

NQF incorporated as a public benefit corporation based on impetus provided by the Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry (Quality First: Better Health Care for All Americans. Final Report to the President of the United States. 1998)

NPP Safety Webinars

Check out the upcoming NPP Patient Safety Webinars.

You may also access all of the past webinars.

National Quality Forum | 1030 15th St, NW, Suite 800, Washington, DC 20005

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Patient Safety

NPP Safety Webinars