NQF Forms New Health It Advisory Committee

WASHINGTON, May 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- To guide its ongoing work in health information technology, the National Quality Forum (NQF) has formed a new Health Information Technology Advisory Committee (HITAC). Members of the new advisory committee represent a wide range of healthcare stakeholders, including consumers, providers, clinicians, purchasers, suppliers, and public and community healthcare.

The NQF Board of Directors approved the creation of HITAC, charging the body with:

• developing a strategic plan and providing ongoing guidance for NQF's HIT portfolio;
• offering input on HIT projects, such as maintenance of the Quality Data Set and specification of testing requirements for eMeasures;
• reviewing electronic specifications for NQF-endorsed® and candidate standards; and
• making recommendations on the endorsement and maintenance of HIT-related consensus standards.

"HIT has great potential to accelerate quality improvement in healthcare," said Janet M. Corrigan, NQF president and CEO. "We're fortunate to have such a diverse group of experts from across the healthcare system to guide NQF's work in this area. Their expertise will help guide work to ensure electronic health records and personal health records are capable of measuring and reporting on quality to drive transformations in care delivery. They will also play a key role in the integration of HIT and performance measures."  

HITAC is a standing committee of the NQF Board of Directors and includes non-voting federal liaisons from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Indian Health Service, the Office of the National Coordinator for HIT, and the Veterans Health Administration. Members of HITAC are eligible to serve three-year terms. To stagger the future appointment cycle, inaugural HITAC members will serve one-, two-, or three-year terms.  

HITAC Members:

• Paul C. Tang, MD, MS (Chair) -- Vice President and Chief Medical Information Director, Palo Alto Medical Foundation and Consulting Associate Professor of Medicine, Stanford University
• Patricia A. Abbott, Ph.D., RN-BC -- Associate Professor, The Johns Hopkins School of Nursing and The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Division of Health Sciences Informatics
• Richard J. Baron, MD -- President and CEO, Greenhouse Internists
• David W. Bates, MD, MSc -- Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital and Medical Director of Clinical and Quality Analysis, Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
• Chad Bennett -- Director of Health Informatics and Product Strategy, Iowa Foundation for Medical Care
• A. John Blair, III, MD -- President, Taconic IPA, Inc.
• Marilyn Jane Bowman-Hayes, RN, MSN, MBA -- Informatics Nurse Specialist, Association of periOperative Registered Nurses
• Becky J. Cherney -- President and CEO, Florida Health Care Coalition
• Ian Z. Chuang, MD, MS -- Medical Officer, Applied Informatics, CIGNA HealthCare
• John F. Derr, RPh -- Senior Vice President and Chief Technology Strategic Officer, Golden Living, LLC
• Caterina E.M. Lasome, Ph.D., MSN, MBA, MHA, RN, CPHIMS -- Chief Operating Officer, National Cancer Institute Center for Biomedical Informatics & Information Technology
• Christoph U. Lehmann, MD -- Director, Clinical Information Technology, Johns Hopkins University and Associate Professor, Department of Pediatrics, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
• Michael I. Lieberman, MD, MS -- Director, Medical Quality Improvement Consortium, GE Healthcare IT
• Blackford Middleton, MD, MPH, MSc -- Corporate Director, Clinical Informatics Research & Development, Partners HealthCare System, Inc.
• J. Marc Overhage, MD, Ph.D. -- Director of Medical Informatics, Regenstrief Institute
• Stanley L. Pestotnik, MS, RPh -- General Manager, TheraDoc, Hospira, Inc.
• Eva M. Powell, MSW, CPHQ -- Director, Health Information Technology Project, National Partnership for Women & Families
• Christopher J. Queram, MA -- President and CEO, Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality
• Deborah A. Reid, JD, MHA -- Senior Attorney, National Health Law Program
• Martha A. Roherty, MPP -- Executive Director, National Association of State Units on Aging
• John Seibel, MD -- Medical Director, New Mexico Medical Review Association
• Shannon Sims, MD, Ph.D. -- Director of Health Informatics in Performance Improvement, Rush University Medical Center
• Christopher S. Snyder, DO -- Chief Medical Information Officer, Peninsula Regional Medical Center
• David A. Stumpf, MD, Ph.D. -- Senior Vice President for Clinical Data Strategies, UnitedHealth Group
• Marcia Thomas-Brown, MHSA, LNHA, CHE -- Chief Operating Officer, National Health IT Collaborative for the Underserved

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