The extent to which patients and their families are involved in making decisions and feel prepared to manage their conditions is critical to improving quality and reducing cost. Commonwealth Fund research has shown that patient- and family-centered care that incorporates shared decision-making can reap potential healthcare savings of $9 billion over 10 years.
Accordingly, the National Quality Strategy seeks to ensure person- and family-centered care across the healthcare landscape, and has outlined several goals to achieve this aim:
- Improve patient, family, and caregiver experience of care related to quality, safety, and access across settings.
- In partnership with patients, families, and caregivers—and using a shared decision-making process—develop culturally sensitive and understandable care plans.
- Enable patients and their families and caregivers to navigate, coordinate, and manage their care appropriately and effectively.
Related NQF Work
- NEW! Home and Community-Based Services Quality
This project will develop a conceptual framework and perform an environmental scan to address performance measure gaps in home and community-based services to enhance the quality of community living.
- Person and Family Centered Care Measures
Across two phases of work, NQF will review measures focused on person and family centered care and the outcomes of particular interest to patients, including health-related quality of life, functional status, and experience with care.
- Prioritizing Measures: Person-Centered Care and Outcomes
Person-Centered Care and Outcomes considers measures that are most important to patients—particularly patient-reported outcomes—and opportunities to advance them through the use of health information technology. This project is one of five Prioritizing Measures initiatives.
Access the Final Report
- 2012 NQF Annual Conference: Building a Patient and Family-Centered Health System
NQF’s 2012 annual conference addressed the impact of policy, health information technology, and emerging measurement strategies on how the healthcare community can further engage patients to ensure they are at the center of care.
- Healthcare Disparities and Cultural Competency Measures Project
In August 2012, NQF endorsed 12 measures focused on healthcare disparities and culturally competent care for racial and ethnic minority populations. These measures are the first endorsed by NQF that specifically address healthcare disparities and cultural competency. A commissioned paper on measurement concepts for healthcare disparities, completed in September 2011, served as the foundation for measure development in the field.
Press Release | Endorsement Summary
- Performance Measurement Coordination Strategy for Hospice and Palliative Care
This MAP report provides a strategy to enhance alignment with a focus on three key areas: 1) high-leverage measure concepts for hospice and palliative care to promote common goals across programs; 2) measures that can be readily incorporated into hospice and palliative care measurement programs; and 3) a pathway for improving measure application.
- NPP Readmissions and Maternity Action Teams
NPP formed two Action Teams comprised of nearly two-dozen stakeholders representing providers, purchasers, consumers, health plans, accreditation and certification bodies, and state, regional and local entities. Focused on improving maternity care and reducing hospital admissions and readmissions across multiple care settings, each group developed plans of action that address the who, what, how and when of reducing hospital readmissions and harm to mothers and babies.
- Palliative and End-of-Life Care Measures Project
In February 2012, NQF endorsed 14 measures on palliative and end-of-life care. The measures address a wide range of care concerns, including pain management, psychosocial needs, care transitions, and experiences of care.
Press Release | Endorsement Summary
- Patient-Reported Outcomes Project
The healthcare system is increasingly looking to use patient-reported outcomes (PROs) – defined as any report of a patient’s health status that comes directly from the patient – in performance measurement. PROs are not in widespread use in clinical practice, and little is known about aggregating patient-level outcomes for measuring performance. To help advance this work, NQF has convened an expert panel interested in methodological issues surrounding use of PRO data in performance measurement.
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- Surgery Measures Project
In January 2012, NQF endorsed 24 quality measures on surgical care performed in hospitals and in outpatient facilities. In May 2012, nine additional measures were endorsed as part of this work, including a new measure evaluating patient experience of care following surgical procedures.
Press Release | Endorsement Summary
