Social Risk Trial Final Report 

In 2014, NQF initiated a Social Risk Trial journey that culminates in 2021 with the publishing of the Social Risk Trial Final Report to determine whether all applicable risk factors should be considered to advance measurement science and ensure that performance measurement is fair, accurate, and unbiased. The COVID-19 pandemic unmasked and exacerbated the striking and long-standing societal, health, and healthcare inequities that marginalized populations experience in virus exposure, susceptibility, and access to testing, treatments, and vaccinations. Now more important than ever, it is resoundingly clear when performance measures are used for high-stakes incentive, value-based care delivery, and accountability purposes, the use of performance stratification and adjustment for social risks should be considered, tested, and evaluated for each individual measure submitted to NQF. This final report summarizes the methods, findings, and recommendations that NQF has conducted to test the inclusion of social risk factors in the quality measure development, endorsement, and implementation evaluation processes.