NQF endorses 70 data-related measures

The National Quality Forum is endorsing 70 performance measures that combine data from various electronic sources—such as administrative claims, pharmacy and laboratory systems, and registries—in order to advance the use of electronic data platforms to measure, report and improve quality.

The NQF reviewed more than 200 measures used by health plans to assess physician performance, but endorsed less than half of those.

All the measures endorsed by the NQF rely on merged data from multiple sources, and sources that can supply rich clinical data. The NQF did not endorse any performance measures that use data collected from a single administrative data source, such as a pharmacy claim.

Fifteen of the endorsed measures use clinical data elements from personal health records or case management registries. The measures cover 16 medical conditions, including cardiovascular disease, asthma and diabetes.

“By taking advantage of multiple sources of data, these measures can provide a more complete picture of the care provided,” said Charles Cutler, an internist and former national medical director at Aetna, who co-chaired the NQF steering committee on clinically enriched administrative data sources. “These measures are also an important step down the path toward harmonized performance measures fully driven off of an electronic data platform.”

The NQF is standards-setting organization aimed at improving quality in healthcare.