National Priorities Partnership Names Dr. Susan Frampton as its New Co-Chair 

Washington, DC – The National Priorities Partnership (NPP) has named Susan Frampton, PhD, president of Planetree, as the new co-chair of the group. The NPP is a National Quality Forum (NQF)-convened partnership of 52 major national organizations with a shared vision to achieve better health, and a safe, equitable, and value-driven healthcare system.

Dr. Frampton has worked for over ten years with Planetree, a not-for-profit advocacy, consultation, and membership organization. Planetree works with a growing network of hospitals and continuing care communities around the world to implement Planetree’s comprehensive patient-and resident-centered model of care, resulting in improvements in both clinical and operational outcomes.

Dr. Frampton has served as a member of the NPP since 2009, identifying strategies to improve safety, quality and patient-centered outcomes for the U.S. healthcare system. She served in 2011 on NPP’s Better Care Subcommittee, which helped to further shape the National Quality Strategy (NQS) – a set of goals to support efforts to improve the quality of health and healthcare. She also served as co-chair of the NPP (Re)admissions Action Team, which developed and executed strategies to safely reduce avoidable readmissions and increase the uptake of patient-centered team-based care delivery models.

“Since joining NPP, Planetree has added a critical layer of perspective regarding patient-centered care and the voice of the patient in meeting the goals of the NQS,” said NPP Co-Chair Bernie Rosof. “I am very much looking forward to working together with Susan as we continue to advance the goals of the National Quality Strategy.”

As co-chair, Frampton will serve a three-year term, co-leading the Partnership alongside Bernie Rosof. The NPP partners collaborate with one another and with broader stakeholder groups to advance the NQS priorities and goals; demonstrate collective commitment to catalyze efforts around national priorities and goals; and seek opportunities to communicate with one another and stakeholders beyond NPP about aligning efforts with the NQS to improve health and healthcare. Past NPP co-chairs include Don Berwick, former Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; Peggy O’Kane, President of the National Committee for Quality Assurance; and Helen Darling, President of the National Business Group on Health. Bernie Rosof, MD, immediate past chair of the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement convened by the American Medical Association, was named co-chair in 2010.

“We currently have an unprecedented opportunity to meaningfully engage patients and families in healthcare quality improvement efforts. I look forward to working with Dr. Rosof, the NPP members, and NQF staff, as well as CMS’ Partnership for Patients to ensure that the voices of patients and caregivers are the foundation of our improvement strategies.”

In addition to her work with the NPP, Dr. Frampton participated on The Joint Commission’s Expert Advisory Panel on culturally competent patient-centered care standards, NQF’s Care Coordination Steering Team and the Institute of Medicine’s review panel for their 2009 publication on integrative medicine. She serves as a faculty member for the Interagency Institute for Federal Health Care Executives (Arlington, VA) each year, and speaks internationally on the connections between patient-centered care, quality and patient safety. She has authored numerous publications and is a frequently sought-after speaker.

“It has been a privilege to engage in the immensely important work of the NPP,” said Helen Darling, outgoing NPP co-chair, “and to work closely with Susan over the last 2 years on the Readmissions Work Group. From that direct experience, I know she will be a wonderful, inspired leader, and work so well with Dr. Rosof. We are all thrilled that Susan has agreed to move into this role. I look forward to continuing to work closely with her and Dr. Rosof to promote the NPP’s goals of achieving healthy communities and safe, affordable, and equitable care, including through the Partnership for Patients.”

About NQF

NQF operates a three-part mission to improve the quality of American healthcare by:

• building consensus on national priorities and goals for performance improvement and working in partnership to achieve them;
• endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance; and
• promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs.

About Planetree

Founded in 1978 by a San Francisco patient who endured a traumatic hospitalization, Planetree has been at the forefront of the effort to personalize, humanize and demystify the healthcare system for more than three decades. Today, the Planetree membership network is a global community of acute care hospitals, continuing care facilities, and outpatient clinics, each at various phases of the journey to transform their health care by considering every aspect of the healthcare experience from the perspective of their patients, and reconnecting staff to their passion for caring for others. A complete list of Planetree hospitals is available to download at www.planetree.org.