Measures will also gain value as more people become involved. Here are steps anyone can take:
- Ask your providers how they measure and report results to improve care and raise awareness among patients.
- Use HospitalCompare.HHS.gov, Medicare.gov/NHCompare, some of the AF4Q examples, and other public reporting venues to learn about providers’ performance. Share the information with your friends and family.
- Participate in NQF’s public comment periods.
- Nominate or serve on an NQF Steering Committee.
- Attend public meetings (in person or virtually).
Your comments matter
Public input plays an important role in NQF’s decisions about measure endorsement. One example comes from debate about endorsing a measure for the proportion of patients who achieve 20/40 vision through cataract surgery. The committee was leaning against endorsement, but public comments suggested greater variability in outcomes among physicians and patient groups than research was showing. As a result, NQF endorsed the measure, which will help us learn more about outcomes of this surgery, especially in non-academic and community hospitals. The answers have high stakes since more than half of all Americans have the procedure by age 80.
The ABCs of Measurement was developed with support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
