Welcome to the National Quality Forum

2008 National Policy Conference: Quality at the Crossroads

Registration for the conference is still open. Please click here to register for the conference.

As we approach the 2008 Presidential election, healthcare quality is at a crossroads. We generally know what has to be done to improve healthcare quality, but the challenge continues to be how to manage the complexity of healthcare, achieve consensus on strategies and goals, and collaborate to make change happen.

The 2008 NQF Policy Conference will address the critical political and policy issues facing healthcare quality at this important juncture. In concert with the two keynote addresses from Susan Dentzer and Shannon Brownlee, the seven panel presentations will feature a wide variety of voices from all corners of the healthcare world debating how the nation should move forward.

The panel discussions will include:

• Stuart Altman and Gail Wilensky, healthcare policy experts, debating the issues from divergent political perspectives;
• Meredith Rosenthal and Tom Valuck addressing possible changes to current payment policies;
• A diverse panel of providers and practitioners exploring significant changes to the delivery system;
• Members of the National Priority Partners discussing the establishment of national healthcare priorities;
• Linda Burnes Bolton and John Bluford considering strategies that have proved successful at eliminating disparities; and
• A lively panel of community-based experts examining how to make change happen at the community level.

October 1, 2008: CMS reduced reimbursement to treat a list of complications it deemed preventable with good care. Many are included on NQF's list of serious reportable events. Read more.

2008 Eisenberg Winners Selected

The National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission announced the 2008 recipients of the annual John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards. Honorees were selected in four award categories, along with a new honorary award this year for individual achievement.

The awards will be presented on Thursday, October 16, at NQF’s Annual Policy Conference: Quality at the Crossroads in Arlington, Virginia.

A list of award recipients and more information about the Eisenberg Awards is available here.

NQF President and CEO Janet Corrigan appointed to AHIC Successor, Inc. Board of Directors

American Health Information Community (AHIC) Successor, Inc. announced the appointment of Janet Corrigan, PhD, MBA to its Board of Directors. AHIC Successor is an independent, sustainable public-private enterprise whose role is to bring together the best of the public, non-profit and private sectors into a trusted, purpose-driven organization for the creation and use of a secure interoperable nationwide health information system. The new organization is being established in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Tell us What You Think: Comment and Vote!

NQF-endorsed voluntary consensus standards are widely viewed as the gold standard for measurement of healthcare quality. Votes and comments from our varied and diverse membership are what make NQF endorsement the gold standard. The following projects are now open for comment:

• National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Safe Practices for Better Healthcare: 2009 Update
• NQF Common Formats Comment Period

The following projects are open for member voting

• National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Hospital Care: Outcomes and Efficiency
• National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Outpatient Imaging Efficiency

Call for Measures: National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Hospital Care: Outcomes and Efficiency Phase II

Call for Nominations to Technical Advisory Panel: National Voluntary Consensus Standards For Hospital Care: Outcomes and Efficiency Phase II

Call for Measures: National Voluntary Consensus Standards For Ambulatory Care Using Clinically Enriched Administrative Data

Call for Nominations: National Voluntary Consensus Standards For Ambulatory Care Using Clinically Enriched Administrative Data

For additional information, visit the Members Only section of the website.

(Not a member? Become one today!)

CLINICIAN-LEVEL PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT AND REPORTING

A new Issue Brief from the NQF examines current efforts to more broadly define relevant and measurable elements of condition-specific care and related accountability. This Issue Brief builds on a workshop on clinician-level measurement convened by NQF in March 2008 and coincides with NQF’s recent endorsement of 67 new clinician-level consensus standards. You can read the background paper for the March 2008 workshop here. More information on these new standards can be found here.

NATIONAL PRIORITIES PARTNERSHIP

The National Priorities Partnership is 28 organizations that wield extraordinary influence over the “cogs and wheels” that drive our healthcare system. We will transform healthcare from the inside out – where it has the best chance to succeed.

FIND OUT about the partner organizations

READ more on what we’ve done to date