These NQF projects seek to identify and endorse measures for public accountability and quality improvement related to the quality of home health care in the United States.
More than 7 million Americans receive professional healthcare in their homes each year (2000). Home health care services are delivered at home to patients who are recovering from care in hospitals or nursing homes; patients who are disabled; the frail elderly; and chronically or terminally ill persons in need of medical, nursing, or therapeutic treatment as assistance with the essential activities of daily living. As in all areas of health care, the quality of care provided is of concern to consumers, purchasers, providers and other stakeholders.
To date, NQF has endorsed 15 performance measures specific to home health quality. This project will not only review those endorsed measures as part of our maintenance process but also solicit additional measures to compliment the set. Topic areas are expected to include, but not be limited to: immunization, medication management, pain management, fall prevention, depression screening/intervention, care coordination, risk assessment, heart failure, and diabetes. Harmonization of similar measures will be a priority for this project.
The candidate measures will be considered for NQF endorsement as voluntary consensus standards. Agreement around the recommendations will be developed through NQF’s formal Consensus Development Process. This project, like all NQF activities, involves the active participation of representatives from across the spectrum of healthcare stakeholders and is guided by a Steering Committee
Funding for this project has been provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
For more information, contact Lisa Hines, BSN, MS, at 202.783.1300 or lhines@qualityforum.org.