FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJUL 15, 2016
CONTACT:
Sofia Kosmetatos202-478-9326
press@qualityforum.orgNQF Statement on Bipartisan Senate Action to Improve the Quality of Rural Healthcare
"We are pleased that Congress has taken up the recommendations of the National
Quality Forum’s Rural Health Committee, which called for integrating rural
providers into Medicare quality improvement programs, and applaud the co-chairs
of the Bipartisan Senate Rural Health Caucus for their leadership in this
important initiative.
In a letter to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, caucus
co-chairs, Sens. John Barrasso (R-WY), Al Franken (D-MN), Heidi Heitkamp
(D-ND), and Pat Roberts (R-KS), urge the agency to include rural providers in
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid quality measurement and improvement programs.
They also urge HHS to task NQF to further the work of the Measure
Applications Partnership and convene a rural workgroup to identify measures
and measure gaps for rural healthcare improvement.
Sens. Franken
and Heitkamp also have introduced a bill—part
of a legislative package to improve healthcare for millions of rural
Americans—to legislate many of the NQF Rural Health Committee’s recommendations.
The Rural Health Care Quality Improvement Act of 2016 establishes a core set of
healthcare quality measures for rural providers and provides support, via
grants, for rural
providers to implement or expand quality improvement reporting programs.
Quality
improvement is important in all care settings and for all Americans, and these
efforts are vital steps toward ensuring better care for rural Americans.”
Helen Darling, MA
Interim President and CEO
National Quality Forum