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The Opportunity
Health determinants, including social and environmental factors and individual behaviors, are varied and each can potentially influence overall health and well being. Inadequate preventive and behavioral choices can have significant negative impact on health outcomes and economic stability1, and these along with other determinants contribute to sixty percent of American deaths. The healthcare delivery system, public health and key community stakeholders can play an important role in redressing poor health outcomes through appropriate and targeted interventions.
Given the multi-dimensional systems focus of population health, developing activities to strengthen the measurement and analysis of population health trends can be best accomplished using a collaborative approach that includes public health, healthcare and other key sectors whose policies influence health. The NQF-convened National Priorities Partnership (NPP) selected Population Health as one of six national priorities, with a particular focus on ensuring receipt of preventive services, healthy behaviors, and community-based assessments of health. In 2010 the NPP, through the Population Health Workgroup, developed several recommendations for Partners and other stakeholders including a recommendation to inform measure development, with consideration to performance measurement gaps and issues related to complex measures2.
About the Project
NQF Process
The Population Health: Prevention Endorsement project seeks to expand NQF’s previous efforts in prevention and healthy behaviors through a multi-stakeholder, consensus development process. Given the need for harmonized and more global prevention measures, this first stage of work will include review of both the existing 33 measures of preventive services as well as newly submitted individual and composite measures related to key preventive services and health behaviors.
Funding
This project is supported under a contract provided by the Department of Health and Human Services.
Related NQF Work
Contact Information
For further information, contact Nicole McElveen, MPH, or Elisa Munthali, MPH, at 202-783-1300 or via email populationhealth@qualityforum.org.
Notes
- Nash DB, Reifsnyder J, Fabius R, Pracilio VP. Population Health: Creating a Culture of Wellness, Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones & Bartlett Learning; 2011.
- National Priorities Partnership (NPP), Why Population Health? Washington, DC. Available at http://www.nationalprioritiespartnership.org/PriorityDetails.aspx?id=610. Last accessed May 2011.
This NQF project seeks to identify and endorse preventive health measures for public reporting and quality improvement that are applicable to all settings of care. In addition, NQF-endorsed® consensus standards that were endorsed prior to 2009 will undergo maintenance review.
NQF sought nominations for members of a Steering Committee for a new
two-phase project to endorse measures focused on preventive health and
population health.
The Call for Nominations closed on June 17, 2011. A Steering Committee of experts was formed to guide the endorsement process and assess candidate standards.
For information on the Steering Committee formation process, please refer to the Call for Nominations. (PDF)
The 14-day review period for submitted nominees closed on August 25, 2011. Members and the public were able to provide feedback on the proposed roster and potential vacancies in expertise.
Steering Committee Roster (PDF)
Steering Committee Bios (PDF)
The Call for Candidate Standards closed on July 12, 2011.
To start, this project included a maintenance review of 33 consensus standards. As a part of the maintenance review process, NQF sought comments on the implementation and use of these measures, particularly all stakeholders’ experiences with the measures. See detailed information in the Call for Implementation Comments (PDF) document.
The Population Health Project has 20 endorsed and new measures to be reviewed during the steering committee meetings.
Measures to be Reviewed
Clinical Preventive Services:
0031 - Breast Cancer Screening
0032 - Cervical Cancer Screening
0033 - Chlamydia Screening in Women (UPDATED)
0034 - Colorectal Cancer Screening (UPDATED)
0037 - Osteoporosis Testing in Older Women
0046 - Osteoporosis Screening
0579 - Annual Cervical Cancer Screening for High Risk Patients (UPDATED)
0614 - Steroid Use - Osteoporosis Screening
0629 - Male Smokers or Family History of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) - Consider Screening for AAA
Immunizations:
0038 - Childhood Immunization Status
0039 - Flu Shots for Adults Ages 50 and Over
0041 - Influenza Immunization (UPDATED)
0043 - Pneumonia vaccination status for older adults
0226 - Influenza Immunization in the ESRD Population (Facility Level)
0431 - Influenza Vaccination Coverage Among Healthcare Personnel
0522 - Influenza Immunization Received for Current Flu Season (UPDATED)
0525 - Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine (PPV) Ever Received (UPDATED)
0617 - High Risk for Pneumococcal Disease - Pneumococcal Vaccination
1653 - Pneumococcal Immunization (PPV 23)
1659 - Influenza Immunization
The Steering Committee met September 13-14, 2011 at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park Hotel. The meeting was open to NQF members and the public.
The Steering Committee met via conference call on October 3.
The Steering Committee met via conference call on October 5.
The Steering Committee met via conference call on October 6.
Project staff hosted a pre-voting webinar on March 20, 2012. The meeting was open to the members and the public.
CSAC recommended 19 of the measures for endorsement.
Review the CSAC Meetings.
The appeals period closed on June 1, 2012. No appeals were filed during this time.
