Matt Gigot, MPH, program manager, clinical data analysis and reporting with WCHQ will serve on the Expert Panel for the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) 12 month project to explore measurement variation. Expert Panel members represent a variety of stakeholders, including consumers, purchasers, providers, professionals, health plans, suppliers, community and public health, and healthcare quality experts.
Project Background:
The increasing focus on issues of quality, cost, and efficiency in healthcare has led to a proliferation of measures across a diverse range of clinical areas, settings, data sources and programs, and there is growing recognition that measures being used in various programs (e.g., at the federal, state, and community levels) are often not well-aligned with each other – different programs will frequently use similar but slightly modified measures despite intending to address the same fundamental quality issue. This leads to a number of challenges, including confusion for stakeholders, a high burden of data collection for healthcare providers, and difficulties when trying to compare performance across similar measures. NQF is initiating a project focused on Variation in Measure Specifications to identify how, where, and why variation is occurring across current measures; to create a framework for understanding and interpreting the different types of variation across measures and the implications of this variation; and to develop a common understanding around key terms, concepts, and measure components to help standardize measurement efforts and minimize unnecessary variation.
The Expert Panel was assembled to provide leadership, guidance, and input on the following tasks:
- Conduct an environmental scan to assess the current landscape of measure variation
- Develop a conceptual framework for use in defining, identifying, and interpreting variations in measure specifications and evaluating the effects of those variations
- Develop a lexicon of standardized definitions for a limited number of key measurement terms, concepts, and components that are known to be common sources of variation in otherwise-similar measures
- Develop a taxonomy to organize and classify the contents of the lexicon
- Provide recommendations for future consideration in this area, including core principles and guidance on how to mitigate variation and improve comparability across new and existing measures, and other activities that could help advance comparability in the future.
“Measure variation creates confusion for everyone involved in performance measurement, from those organizations implementing the measures, all the way down to the individual user of the measure results. Participation in this committee will provide an excellent opportunity to take the collective experience that WCHQ has developed in the area of performance measurement and apply it to a national conversation around this issue” stated Matt Gigot.
About the National Quality Forum
Established in 1999, NQF is a non-profit, non-partisan, membership-based organization that brings together public and private sector stakeholders to reach consensus on healthcare performance measurement. The goal is to make healthcare in the U.S. better, safer, and more affordable. For more information about NQF, please visit www.qualityforum.org
About the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality
Founded in 2003, the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) is a voluntary, non-profit consortium of 39 organizations committed to using the public reporting of comparative measures of performance to catalyze improvements in the quality and affordability of healthcare in our state. To view our reports or to find out more about WCHQ, please visit our website www.wchq.org