NAPH Makes Nominations to Critical Measures Development Board - April 6, 2011

Section 3014 of the Affordable Care Act makes the National Quality Forum (NQF) the responsible entity to convene multi-stakeholder groups to provide input to the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the selection of performance measures for public reporting and pay-for-performance programs. NQF’s newly formed Measures Applications Partnership (MAP) will assume the responsibility, which was formerly handled by the Hospital Quality Alliance (HQA). NAPH is currently a member of HQA.

MAP will function with a two-tiered structure composed of four standing workgroups and one ad-hoc safety workgroup. This structure will provide recommendations to MAP, who will then report to the HHS Secretary.

To strengthen the voice of the safety net on these critical issues, NAPH submitted a total of six nominations to the four standing workgroups that will support the work of MAP. At the Board meeting on April 1, the roster was finalized to include:

• Dr. Bruce Siegel, chief executive officer of NAPH, as the Safety Net Expert on the Hospital Workgroup
• Dr. Ann Sullivan, senior vice president, Queens Health Network, New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation, as the Mental Health Expert on the Hospital Workgroup
• NAPH as an organization was confirmed for the Dual Eligible Beneficiaries Workgroup; NAPH has in turn submitted Dr. Steven Counsell, interim medical director, Senior Care at Wishard Health Services, Indianapolis, Ind., as our representative to this workgroup.

Meanwhile, NAPH also has submitted nominations from our membership for the NQF Steering Committees on Regionalized Emergency Care, as well as Healthcare Disparities and Cultural Competencies and is currently awaiting decisions from the board.