NQF Names Helen Darling Interim President and CEO 

Washington, DC—The National Quality Forum (NQF) has appointed Helen Darling, MA, interim president and CEO, following the announcement that Christine K. Cassel, MD, will step down to join the leadership team designing the new Kaiser Permanente School of Medicine. Darling is the former president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health, a national nonprofit membership organization that promotes quality and affordability of health benefits and represents large employers on national health policy. She will assume her new role with NQF in March.

“Helen intimately understands the complex issues involved in improving quality and value in the healthcare system, and we are fortunate that she will lead NQF through this leadership transition,” said Bruce Siegel, MD, MPH, NQF Board chair and president and CEO of America’s Essential Hospitals. “As a long-time Board member and former Board chair, she is fully invested in NQF’s future and is committed to seeing the organization thrive through its transition.”

Darling led NQF’s Board for four years, and has been involved with numerous NQF projects over the years. Most recently, she was as a member of the Intended Use Committee, which evaluated whether the use of a measure should be considered in the endorsement process. She also is a member of the Incubator Advisory Council, which governs NQF’s Measure Incubator.

Darling’s career has been focused on finding practical solutions to the nation’s growing crisis of rapidly rising costs and affordability of care. In addition to her work with NQF, Darling serves on the Committee on Performance Measurement of the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the Medical Advisory Panel of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association’s Technology Evaluation Center (now the Center for Clinical Effectiveness), and the Advisory Board for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. She also serves on the Board of the Reagan Udall Foundation for the FDA. Previously, she directed purchasing of health and disability benefits at Xerox Corporation and was a health benefits consultant at Mercer and Towers Watson.

“I am honored to be asked to serve NQF in this new way,” said Darling. “The mission of improving the health of the American people through high-value measures of quality, safety, and access to healthcare has never been more important, or more essential, to our future as a nation. I look forward to working closely with Chris Cassel, Bruce Siegel, the Board and the very talented team at NQF to effect a smooth and productive transition.”

The NQF Board has launched a national search for a new president and CEO.

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The National Quality Forum leads national collaboration to improve health and healthcare quality through measurement. Learn more at www.qualityforum.org.