This NQF project seeks to identify and endorse measures for public accountability and quality improvement related to cancer care, infectious disease, non-medical doctor/doctor of osteopathy, surgery and anesthesia at the individual clinician level.
To date, NQF has endorsed over 100 clinician-level performance measures in a variety of areas. However, significant gaps still exist. To meet CMS’s need for additional quality measures for use in the CMS Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), cancer care, infectious disease, non-medical doctor/doctor of osteopathy, surgery and anesthesia are now being included in this effort to promote accountability, quality improvement and to enable consumers to make informed decisions about where to seek care.
The clinician-level project will include a call for measures related to the following topic areas:
Cancer Care
In 2006, nearly 1.41 million men and women in the United States will develop cancer. While there have been great strides in prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the disease, there are still variations in medical practice that lead to sub-optimal care. To date, the NQF has endorsed performance measures for cancer care at the institutional level (e.g., hospitals, health plans) but not at the individual clinician level. The clinician level cancer care project will include a call for measures related to the following topic areas for the individual clinician: 1) hematology/oncology; 2) prostate cancer; 3) pathology pertaining to cancer. For more information, contact Kristyne McGuinn, at 202.783.1300 or via email, info@qualityforum.org.
Infectious Disease
There is a significant gap incurrent NQF-endorsed™ performance measures around infectious disease . The clinical-level infectious disease project will include a call for measures on 1) hepatitis prevention, treatment, and care management; 2) HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment, and care management. For more information please contact Fatema Salam, at 202.783.1300 or via email, info@qualityforum.org.
Non-Medical Doctor/Doctor of Osteopathy Performance Measures
NQF has already endorsed measures appropriate for evaluation of physician assistants, nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists (prevention and screening, hypertension, diabetes, etc), and optometrists (eye care). Therefore, the scope of this project has been limited to a call for measures to identify measures for the following practitioners: podiatrists, chiropractors (manipulation only), oral surgeons, dentists, nurse anesthetists, clinical social workers, clinical psychologists and dietician/nutritionists, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and qualified speech-language pathologists. For more information, contact Lisa Hines, RN, at, at 202.783.1300 or via email, info@qualityforum.org.
Surgery & Anesthesia
NQF has endorsed a number of performance measures applicable to ambulatory care surgical centers, cardiac surgery, and hospital-level surgery and anesthesia measures. However, significant gaps still exist. The clinical-level surgery and anesthesia project will include a call for measures on: 1) anesthesiology; 2) perioperative management; and 3) general thoracic surgery. This project will also review new procedure codes as additions to the peri-operative antibiotic measures endorsed earlier this year. For more information, contact Julie Horner, at, at 202.783.1300 or via email, info@qualityforum.org.
1 American Cancer Society. Cancer Statistics-2006. Presentation can be accessed at: http://www.cancer.org/downloads/STT/Cancer_Statistics_2006_Presentation.ppt#282,13,2006 Estimated US Cancer Cases* Last accessed on October 2, 2007.
This project, like all NQF activities, involves the active participation of representatives from across the spectrum of healthcare stakeholders. The NQF proposes to work with the full range of stakeholders to identify performance measures that could be used at the individual clinician level to provide meaningful information to consumers, purchasers, providers, healthcare professionals, quality improvement organizations, and researchers. The project is guided by a Steering Committee. Agreement around the recommendations will be developed through NQF’s formal Consensus Development Process.
Funding for this project has been provided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.