In addition to a full agenda of speakers, NQF members learned about innovative NQF projects such as the NQF Measure Incubator and our work to improve health information technology data. Members also voted on the next areas of focus for NQF’s National Quality Partners, which engages members and other stakeholders to address healthcare quality issues of national importance.

The wide-ranging conversation included presentations by: Karen DeSalvo, MD, MPH, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Acting Assistant Secretary for Health; Senator Bill Cassidy, MD (R-LA); Marilyn Tavenner, President and CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans; Kate Goodrich, MD, Director of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Center for Clinical Standards and Quality; and Billy Beane, the Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations for the Oakland Athletics, among others. In the closing keynote address, Beane discussed his experience using big data to transform an entrenched industry and make data-driven approaches to selecting baseball players the new industry standard.

NQF honored achievements in healthcare quality improvement by recognizing the recipients of two awards: the John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Awards and NQF’s Consumers and Patients for Quality Award, which recognizes exceptional contributions of consumers and patient advocates to improving patient safety. Eisenberg Award honorees included Pascale Carayon, PhD; Premier, Inc.; and Mayo Clinic. The Maine Health Management Coalition received NQF’s 2016 Consumers and Patients for Quality Award.

A complete recording of the 2016 NQF Annual Conference is now available for NQF members as an exclusive benefit of NQF Membership.

The 2017 NQF Annual Conference is slated for April 4-5, 2017, in Washington, DC.

For more information, email annualconference@qualityforum.org.