National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Hospital Care: Outcomes and Efficiency Phase II

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed three measures that address the outcomes for three survival predictor measures.  

Endorsed Measures:

Survival Predictor for Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA)

Survival Predictor for Esophagectomy Surgery

Survival Predictor for Pancreatic Resection Surgery

NQF is a voluntary consensus standards-setting organization. Any party may appeal the recommendations, in whole or in part, by notifying NQF in writing via e-mail no later than December 12, 2010 ([email protected]). For an appeal to be considered, the notification

e-mail must include information clearly demonstrating that the appellant has interests that are directly and materially affected by the NQF-endorsed recommendations and that the NQF decision has had (or will have) an adverse effect on those interests.

Background

These measures are three of six that were deferred by the board last year for further study.

In August 2009, NQF's Board of Directors ratified the Consensus Standard Approval Committee's (CSAC) decision to endorse four measures for hospital outcomes, but deferred action on six additional candidate standards. The measures focused on survival (mortality) by hospital, for six surgical procedures for which NQF had previously endorsed mortality measures.  

The discussion about these measures led the NQF Board of Directors to a broader discussion about NQF's evidence criteria and an affirmation that public reporting is a key goal for NQF-endorsed measures. NQF convened two task forces to provide guidance on NQF's measure evaluation criteria. One task force evaluated the subcriteria under "Importance to Measure and Report," particularly the evidence that supports the focus of measurement; the other addressed the criteria "Scientific Acceptability of Measure Properties," with particular focus on reliability and validity. Each task force made recommendations on evaluating these criteria. Their reports were presented for NQF member and public review and comment prior to final review and approval by the Consensus Standards Approval Committee (CSAC) and Board of Directors.  More information about that process can be found at http://www.qualityforum.org/Measuring_Performance/Improving_NQF_Process/Strengthening_Measure_Evaluation.aspx.

The mission of the National Quality Forum is to improve the quality of American healthcare by setting national priorities and goals for performance improvement, endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance, and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs. NQF, a non-profit organization (qualityforum.org) with diverse stakeholders across the public and private health sectors, was established in 1999 and is based in Washington, DC.

SOURCE National Quality Forum