The Joint Commission has acquired the National Quality Forum, with the goal of consolidating quality measures and integrating more industry voices into the development of standards.
Putting the healthcare improvement organization under the umbrella of the commission should reduce the burden on health systems by eliminating unaligned, competing measures and creating more streamlined and consistent clinical performance measurement, according to the groups.
“We believe that by combining the unique capabilities of each organization, we can better support focused improvement in healthcare,” said Dr. Jonathan Perlin, president and CEO of The Joint Commission, in a news release.
Terms of the transaction between the two nonprofit groups were not disclosed.
The forum will remain independent in its development of consensus-based standards and practices. However, the majority of its board will be appointed by the Joint Commission.
The Health and Human Services Department contracts with the forum to provide guidance on performance measure priorities to entities like the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. More than 300 organizations are members of the forum, including health systems, insurers and public health agencies.
The National Quality Forum has experience bringing together stakeholders on evidence-based measures while the Joint Commission is an established authority in performance assessment, Dana Gelb Safran, the forum's president and CEO, said in a news release. Combined, the groups will lead the industry in driving improvement across care settings and create a platform for deploying new measures that are meaningful to patients and clinicians, she said.
Safran will remain in her role and also serve as a member of the commission's executive management team.
In the past year, the commission has eliminated and revised hundreds of its accreditation standards. The organization has said it hopes the revisions will reduce the administrative burden on health systems while refocusing national quality and safety goals.