A quick note to DC policy people:
There’s a shift in the wind, and you may want to join what I think is an important conference this Thursday and Friday. The National Quality Forum, an independent organization that defines quality measures for industry to use, is having its annual conference and membership meeting.
As regular readers know, I’ve often said that medicine is the only industry I know where quality isn’t defined by the customer, the patient, the ultimate stakeholder. That’s starting to change: NQF is now actively engaged in shifting to make patient point of view a core part of the process.
This is important because in the past well-meaning people have looked at what they think quality is, but as shown in the Kaiser Family Foundation chart at right, it hasn’t been working out well. Costs are through the roof, nowhere near in proportion to customer satisfaction. We need to change that, and consumer-patient voices are an important part of this event.
I’m doing the first talk after the opening keynote by new NQF president Christine Cassel. I’ll have much to say about how to create information that leads to a new dynamic for improving quality – quality in the patient’s terms, not in an abstract sense. The whole agenda is here (PDF). As the event’s web page says, it focuses on:
… ways to make healthcare quality information meaningful to patients and consumers, and how to empower patients and consumers to make better decisions about their care.
Non-members are welcome to register. The theme is important: “Making Sense of Quality Data for Patients, Providers, and Payers.” Other plenary speakers include
- Marilynn Tavener, administrator of CMS (the Medicare and Medicaid people)
- James Guest, president and CEO of Consumers Union
- Michael Leavitt, former secretary of HHS
- Tom Daschle, former Senate Majority Leader and author of Critical, the book about the history of health reform that changed my view back in early 2009.
Panelists include my good friends Susannah Fox and Leah Binder (an hour after my panel), among others.
Of course, the NQF is also the subject of much attention for the apparent misdeeds of Chuck Denham, a past committee co-chair who evidently took $11 million of bribes some years ago to try to influence their process. NQF’s checks and balances blocked the improper attempt but it emphasizes how important it is for such organizations to be untainted.
I hope to see you there, and I hope the work will continue to actively engage patient voices after the event.
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