National Quality Forum NQF

In 1998, the President s Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Health Care Industry proposed the creation of the National Quality Forum (NQF) as part of an integrated national agenda for quality improvement, and NQF was incorporated as a not-for-profit membership organization in 1999. Members include leaders from consumer organizations, purchaser organizations, provider organizations, health plans, and health service research organizations. Their... 

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in addition to performing its primary role of supporting research, has taken the lead in promoting the identihcation and implementation of safe practices. To do this, AHRQ commissioned the National Quality Forum (NQF) to develop a list of thirty safe practices, published in May 2003. NQF s expert committee found sufficient evidence of impact to recommend these thirty practices to all hospitals. Both JCAHO and the Leapfrog Group will probably look to this fist for additional practices to be recommended. 

There is growing interest that mandatory reporting and measures should center on the National Quality Forum s published list of Never Again events. The top six priorities from this list, as identified by NQF, are as follows ... 

---