Prevention and Population Health Final Report - Fall 2020 Cycle 

The United States (U.S.) continues to lag behind other nations in key population health indicators, such as infant mortality, obesity, and life expectancy, despite spending more on healthcare than any other nation in the world. Six in ten United States (U.S.) adults have one chronic disease, four in ten adults have two or more. Many leading causes of death may be prevented by decreasing negative lifestyle behaviors, such as tobacco use, unhealthy dietary choices, lack of physical activity, and excessive alcohol use. Increasing the use of preventive services is a key U.S. strategy to improving population health from often avoidable chronic conditions. Instead, nearly all the nation’s $3.8 trillion annual healthcare costs are used to fund medical services for existing illness and injury. Performance measures in NQF’s Prevention and Population Health portfolio assess the performance of stakeholder interventions to increase prevention services, decrease negative lifestyle choices, and improve population health status. The Standing Committee evaluated one composite electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) undergoing maintenance review that focused on global malnutrition. The measure maintained its NCQ endorsement.