NQF: What are you most proud of from your time at NQF?
CKC: I’m incredibly proud of all that we have accomplished over the past three years. Our membership is strong, we have a broader base of financial support for a wide range of important work, and we are working more efficiently and creatively in important areas to improve healthcare quality.
I’m especially excited by several new initiatives advancing the frontiers of measurement science, including one project that’s addressing the challenging question of attribution: Who is ultimately responsible for a patient’s health outcomes when multiple providers deliver care?
Through its newly launched Measure Incubator, NQF is working to facilitate the development of measures in areas where they are especially needed, such as to help assess patient-reported outcomes. Through our National Quality Partners (NQP), we are galvanizing widespread action around the important issues of better use of antibiotics and better care for people with advanced illness.
All of this progress is a testament to NQF’s solid foundation, Board leadership, committed members from throughout the healthcare world, and highly skilled and dedicated staff.
NQF: What do you hope for the future of NQF?
CKC: NQF’s recent progress positions the organization well for continuing advances. One area I look forward to seeing NQF play a greater role is helping to make sense of the confusing measurement landscape so that we can more efficiently get to the measures that have the greatest impact in improving healthcare quality. Our multistakeholder membership is uniquely able to support and drive “sense-making” in the growing jungle of confusing information about quality and value. It is a natural extension of NQF’s focus on driving alignment in measurement across the public and private sectors.
There’s also an opportunity for NQF to play a greater role in gathering feedback from the front lines of healthcare delivery on which measures work—and which do not. By building feedback loops, we will be better able to help refine measures to reduce unintended consequences and identify the best practices that help hospitals, clinicians, and other providers improve the care they provide.
NQF: What will you miss most at NQF?
CKC: It’s the people who make NQF—and it’s the people that I will miss the most. NQF’s more than 430 member organizations and 800 volunteers steadfastly donate their time and expertise to NQF to resolve some of the most complex and controversial issues in healthcare and improve healthcare quality and value. Everything NQF does is made possible by its 100 talented and caring staff members who are genuinely committed to better patient care, and by the support and leadership of our Board. NQF is a forum of people and it is that diverse and devoted forum that will drive continued progress in our healthcare for years to come.
