The National Quality Forum (NQF) Appeals Board adjudicates all appeals of measure endorsement decisions made by NQF’s Consensus Standards Approval Committee (CSAC). The Appeals Board (PDF) includes five members and two alternate member positions. Alternates serve on the Appeals Board in the event an Appeals Board member has a conflict of interest with a measure under appeal review, or if an Appeals Board member is unable to attend an Appeals Board meeting. Individuals eligible to serve on the Appeals Board include current and former members of the Consensus Development Process Standing Committees, as well as former members of CSAC and NQF Board of Directors.
The Appeals Board is subject to a conflict-of-interest policy and disclosure requirement. Appeals Board members and Alternates complete a measure-specific and an appellant-specific disclosure of interest (DOI) form prior to considering whether an appeal should move forward. For the measure(s) being appealed, Appeals Board members and Alternates disclose whether they were involved in measure development activities or whether they previously reviewed or voted on the measure(s) either as a member of the Scientific Methods Panel, Standing Committee, or the CSAC, or if they have been employed or have ever collaborated directly with the appellant(s) in the past five years. In addition, Appeals Board members and Alternates disclose other information about activities related to the measure(s) being appealed. Any recusals are disclosed publicly before an appeal will be considered.
The Appeals Board must have a quorum to make a decision regarding an appeal and a majority vote is required.
Appeals Board meetings are scheduled via web-conference as needed. More information about the Appeals Board process can be found on the NQF Measure Appeals page.
