Quality Measures

How Are Quality Measures Endorsed?

The NQF is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, membership-based organization which brings together public and private-sector organizations to reach consensus on how to measure quality in health care. NQF does not develop measures, but instead reviews, endorses, and recommends use of measures for various programs. NQF endorsement is voluntary, but endorsed measures are favored for use in federal and private-sector programs because of the rigorous process followed for endorsement.

The NQF uses a Consensus Development Process (CDP) to evaluate and endorse measures. For each topic, expert committees are formed, comprised of patients, physicians, other health professionals, suppliers, subject matter experts, and payers. The committee evaluates measures submitted by developers, issues a draft report of findings, gathers member and public comment, and votes to reach a consensus on endorsement recommendations. Committee recommendations are sent to the Consensus Standards Approval Committee (CSAC) where a final endorsement decision is made.