Measure Sets and Measurement Systems: Multistakeholder Guidance for Design and Evaluation 

In today’s quality landscape, multiple measures are often used together in public reporting and value-based programs to evaluate quality or cost and drive comprehensive improvement. Yet, there is minimal guidance on how to determine how well these groups of measures work with other program elements to provide accurate assessments of quality. To address this important gap, the National Quality Forum (NQF) convened a 25-member Technical Expert Panel (TEP) representing patients, purchasers, public and private payers, clinicians, provider groups, measure developers and implementers, statisticians, and health services researchers. In a series of meetings from June to November 2019, the TEP discussed the elements of measure sets and measurement systems, as well as data challenges, alignment considerations, and unintended consequences. This final report summarizes the TEP’s discussion and proposes definitions of measure sets and measurement systems and a method for their assessment.