Home > About Us > Leadership > President's Report Archive > May 2002
Click here to login to the members area.
No significant issues to report.
Our Research Assistant departs for medical school on May 31. A new research assistant will start June 3. We have been staffing the receptionist slot via a temp agency and will convert that individual to employee status on June 3. We are recruiting for a program director/senior program director for the cancer project, and are also interviewing candidates for a second research assistant position.
Since the April 23, 2002, Board meeting, we sent out final invoices to organizations with overdue dues (since January 2002), noting that a recommendation to suspend voting privileges would be made to the Board for the May 30, 2002, meeting if payment were not received. In response, we learned that one small organization has dissolved. One organization that had been reintegrated with the parent organization saw its dues increase from $1,000 to $15,000 and had requested paying $7,500 in January (paid) and $7,500 in June; this organization recently informed NQF that it wished to discontinue its membership rather than pay the balance due. Two small organizations ($1,000) have declined to renew: one for financial reasons and the other because, as a small organization, they have insufficient staff to support their Board's review of NQF material. One mid-sized organization ($5,000) has declined to review for financial reasons, as has the State of Minnesota ($10,000).
The Provider and Health Plan (PHP), Purchaser, and Research and Quality Improvement (RQI) Councils have all scheduled regular conference calls and have held at least one call since the April 22, 2002, Spring Membership Meeting.
No significant issues to report. Preparations are being made for the fall leadership elections for the PHP and RQI Councils.
The NQF's independent auditors, Gelman, Rosenberg and Freedman, have issued the draft financial statements for fiscal year 2001 for the Finance Committee's and Board's review.
Serious Reportable Adverse Events in Healthcare: A Consensus Report
The report was issued in print in March. To date, more than 1,000 reports have been distributed, of which approximately 325 copies were from sales. We are collaborating with the National Academy for State Health Policy on a new project-SAFER (State Alliance For Error Reporting)- to enlist states to use the list for reporting.
Improving the Quality of Healthcare for Minority Patients: Workshop Proceedings
The workshop proceedings and commissioned papers are now in print, and we are coordinating the document's release with the Commonwealth Fund.
A National Framework for Healthcare Quality Measurement and Reporting (formerly referred to as the Strategic Framework Board recommendations)
All 17 recommendations were approved by all four Member Councils on the first ballot. Accordingly, the document has been forwarded to the Board for its consideration. Several issues have been identified, however, as to how ballots should be handled for products that will soon be forwarded to NQF members for voting. Despite explicit instructions, several ballots were late, incomplete, signed by other than the organizational representative, etc. The Board will need to decide how to handle these ballots at the May 30, 2002, meeting.
IT Summit
A first draft of the conference proceedings, held on March 6-7, 2002, at
the Institute of Medicine, National Academy of Sciences, has been prepared and is undergoing staff review. Owing to the IOM's process, the document has not yet been widely circulated.
Safe Practices for Better Healthcare
As noted at the Board meeting on April 23, 2002, the document generated significant comment, and a revised structure was discussed at the Spring Membership Meeting in Chicago. The document is undergoing further revision with the goal of forwarding it for a second round of review in late June or July 2002.
Hospital Performance Measures
The pre-vote review phase closed on May 23, 2002. The comments are generally straightforward, and we anticipate forwarding the document to NQF members for voting in June. The Steering Committee will convene for the 5th time on June 14 to move forward with the second task of recommending a framework for updating the set and considering new measures.
Nursing Homes
The pre-vote review phase closed on May 14, 2002. The comments are generally straightforward, and we anticipate forwarding the document to NQF members for voting in June. As noted in the Board's briefing materials, a letter has been forwarded to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recommending CMS pursue follow-up to this initial set once results from the 6-state pilot and the CMS validation studies are complete.
Cancer
Appointment of a Steering Committee is largely complete, and we are working to identify a date for the first meeting.
Diabetes Consensus Measures
The pre-vote review phase closed on May 14, 2002. Several of the comments address technical specifications of the measures. These comments were forwarded to the Alliance for its views, with a request for feedback by May 30. We anticipate forwarding the document to NQF members for voting in June.
I am advised that revision of the SFB's papers is nearing completion such that publication as a supplement to Medical Care in July or August seems likely now.
The first meeting of the SAC will be held on June 5 at the NQF office.