Resources for Healthcare Performance Measures

There are numerous resources for healthcare performance measures. The following represent resources that may be useful to CME professionals interested in developing performance improvement CME activities.

AMA Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement
The Consortium is a physician-led initiative that includes methodological experts, clinical experts and represents more than 50 national medical specialty societies, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The American Medical Association (AMA) convenes the Consortium and provides staff support. The Iowa Foundation for Medical Cares serves as consultant. The Consortium currently offers 17 ambulatory care measurement sets and 151 ambulatory care measures.
www.ama-assn.org/go/quality

Joint Commission
Since 1951, the Joint Commission (formerly the Joint Commission for Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations) has accredited and created standards for healthcare organizations. It engages in performance measurement research and development activities, and has established successful, ongoing, collaborative relationships with key performance measurement entities. Introduced in February 1997, the Joint Commission’s ORYXâ initiative integrates outcomes and other performance measurement data into the accreditation process. A component of the ORYX initiative is the identification and use of standardized, or “core” performance measures. The Joint Commission’s principal intent is to identify, rather than develop, sound measures that support organizational process improvement.
www.jointcommission.org

National Committee for Quality Assurance
The NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, recognizes physicians, physician groups and providers in key clinical areas and manages HEDIS, the most widely recognized set of performance measures for the health plans of America. NCQA is a widely recognized symbol of quality. Accredited health plans must comply with 60 standards and report performance in 40 areas to earn the NCQA seal of approval.
www.ncqa.org
 
National Quality Forum
The NQF is a not-for-profit open membership organization created to develop and implement a national strategy for health care quality measurement and reporting. NQF has broad participation from all parts of the healthcare system, including groups representing consumers; public and private purchasers; physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers; accrediting bodies; supporting industries; and organizations involved in healthcare research or quality improvement. To date, NQF has endorsed more than 300 measures, indicators, events, practices, and other products to help assess quality across the healthcare continuum. NQF endorsement has become the "gold standard" for the measurement of healthcare quality. 
www.qualityforum.org

AQA (previously Ambulatory Quality Alliance)
In September 2004, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American College of Physicians (ACP), America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), joined together to determine how to most effectively and efficiently improve performance measurement, data aggregation, and reporting in the ambulatory care setting. In 2004, the AQA endorsed a starter set of 26 standard performance measures that are now being incorporated in physician contracts and implemented around the country. 
www.aqaalliance.org

HQA—Hospital Quality Alliance
The Hospital Quality Alliance: Improving Care Through Information (HQA) is a public-private collaboration to improve the quality of care provided by the nation's hospitals by measuring and publicly reporting on that care. This collaboration includes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the American Hospital Association, the Federation of American Hospitals, and the Association of American Medical Colleges. The twenty-one measures currently reported include ten "starter set" measures, and additional measures on which hospitals also voluntarily report.
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HospitalQualityInits/15_HospitalQualityAlliance.asp

Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Quality Improvement Organizations
Under the direction of CMS, the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program consists of a national network of 53 QIOs, responsible for each U.S. state, territory, and the District of Columbia.  QIOs work with consumers and physicians, hospitals, and other caregivers to refine care delivery systems to make sure patients get the right care at the right time, particularly patients from underserved populations.  There are a number of Medicare and Medicaid quality improvement programs and demonstration projects.
http://www.cms.hhs.gov/QualityImprovementOrgs/

Bridges to Excellence
Bridges to Excellence (BTE) is a multi-state, multi-employer coalition developed by employers, physicians, healthcare services researchers and other industry experts. The BTE mission is to reward quality across the health care system, and is a grantee of the Robert Wood Johnson Rewarding Results grant program. BTE is a not-for-profit organization created to encourage significant leaps in the quality of care by recognizing and rewarding health care providers who demonstrate that they deliver safe, timely, effective, efficient and patient-centered care. In addition to groups affiliated with the National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH), Bridges to Excellence participants include large employers, health plans, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the American Board of Internal Medicine and several Quality Improvement Organizations. These organizations are united in their shared goal of improving health care quality through measurement, reporting, rewards and education.
www.bridgestoexcellence.org

National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC)
A public repository for evidence-based quality measures and measure sets sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov

Resources for Continuing Professional Development

The Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME)
The ACCME's mission is the identification, development, and promotion of standards for quality continuing medical education utilized by physicians in their maintenance of competence and incorporation of new knowledge to improve quality medical care for patients and their communities.
www.accme.org

The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education
The Alliance for Continuing Medical Education (ACME) is an international organization of CME professionals from all areas including hospitals, medical societies, medical schools, medical education companies and pharmaceutical companies.
www.acme-assn.org

The Society for Academic Continuing Professional Development
The Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) is a membership organization made up of medical school, medical specialty society and other CME professionals dedicated to the scholarly activity of CME including research and teaching.
www.sacme.org

American Medical Association Physician’s Recognition Award
The AMA PRA credit system is recognized and accepted by hospital credentialing bodies, state medical licensure boards and medical specialty certifying boards. Within the US, the AMA only authorizes organizations that are accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) or by a state medical society recognized by the ACCME Committee for Review and Recognition (CRR) to designate and award AMA PRA Category 1 credit to physicians.
http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/455/pra2006.pdf#page=6

American Academy of Family Physicians
The AAFP has its own CME credit system for family physicians. A member of the AAFP must be involved in planning the activity and the ACCME Standards for Commercial Support are enforced. Like the AMA PRA, AAFP has criteria for performance improvement CME credit.
http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/cme/cmea/cmeapplying/perfimprovement.html 

National Association for Healthcare Quality
Founded in 1976, association for healthcare quality professionals.
www.nahq.org 

American College of Medical Quality
National and international resource on healthcare quality for providers, payors, purchasers and legislators. www.acmq.org 

Resources for Educational Technology

CECity
CECity, the leading provider of online CME, QI, and Outcomes platforms and services, is committed to the development of technologies designed to support healthcare professionals in their pursuit of lifetime learning and CME/CE stakeholders in their quest for quality and outcomes
www.cecity.com  

MedBiquitous
Founded by Johns Hopkins Medicine and leading professional medical societies, MedBiquitous is a non-profit, international group of professional medical and healthcare associations, universities, commercial, and governmental organizations dedicated to advancing healthcare education through technology standards that promote professional competence, collaboration, and better patient care. MedBiquitous is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to develop information technology standards for healthcare education and competence assessment
www.medbiq.org