FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJAN 04, 2016
CONTACT:
Sofia Kosmetatos202-478-9326
press@qualityforum.orgNQF to Develop National Standards, Measurement for Patient Decision Aids
Washington, DC — As people demand a greater say in decisions
about their healthcare, a variety of tools called decision aids are
increasingly being used to make it easier for patients and their clinicians to
discuss treatment options. The National Quality Forum will help make sense of
the proliferation of these patient resources, which commonly include pamphlets,
videos, or web-based resources, by developing national standards for decision
aids and a process for their certification. NQF also will work with a
multistakeholder expert panel to define concepts for how to measure decision
quality and shared decision-making.
“To transform the nation’s healthcare, shared decision-making
between patients and providers must be much more routine,” said Helen Burstin,
MD, MPH, chief scientific officer of NQF. “NQF’s work will develop standards to
identify those evidence-based, reliable decision aids people need to make good
personal decisions about their care and treatment and to be better equipped to
discuss those decisions with their clinicians.”
Supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the
one-year project builds upon prior work conducted by the International Patient
Decision Aid Standards (IPDAS) Collaboration and the Washington State Health
Authority’s efforts to specify standards for patient decision-support
interventions.
NQF has commissioned a white paper on standards for decision
aids to inform the work of the expert panel that NQF will convene by mid-2016. A
final report with the panel’s recommendations is expected in December 2016.
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The National Quality Forum leads national
collaboration to improve health and healthcare quality through measurement.
Learn more at www.qualityforum.org.