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National Quality Forum's Perinatal Care Performance Measure SetWhat is health care performance measurement? Why is performance measurement a key to quality improvement? What is National Quality Forum's role in performance measurement? What National Quality Forum work is relevant to maternity care? What new measures can make a big difference for many mothers and babies? What are the next steps in using performance measurement to improve maternity care quality? In October 2008, the National Quality Forum released important new tools for improving the quality of maternity care: a set of 17 national measures for assessing the quality of care around the time of birth. The page gives background and details. What is health care performance measurement?Performance measurement is crucial for those who receive, provide, pay for and set policy about health care - all of us!Performance measurement means holding up the performance of hospitals and other facilities, health professionals (individuals and groups), health plans, and other responsible individuals and groups to standards of care. How do they measure up? To measure performance, we need specific "measures" that 1) address priority areas with room for improvement, 2) are based on good science, and 3) work well in the current health system. Measures can address many dimensions of care, including what is done or not done, health outcomes, experience of those receiving care, and access to needed services. Why is performance measurement a key to quality improvement?Performance measurement, along with disclosure of the results - often called "transparency" - is an invaluable tool for key groups in the health system:
What is National Quality Forum's role in performance measurement?The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a not-for-profit organization that brings people together from across the health system to work on quality improvement. A key focus of NQF is collaboration to identify, evaluate and endorse national standardized performance measures that can be used widely in the United States.NQF has about 400 member organizations and agencies, each of which joins one of eight NQF Councils. Much NQF work is carried out through the councils: Consumer; Health Plan; Health Professional; Provider Organization; Public/Community Health Agency; Purchaser; Quality Measurement, Research and Improvement; and Supplier/Industry. Childbirth Connection is active in the Consumer Council, and Childbirth Connection's Executive Director, Maureen Corry, serves as its Vice Chair. Other groups that are involved with maternity care belong to various NQF councils. What National Quality Forum work is relevant to maternity care?NQF is just completing a major project resulting in 17 new NQF-endorsed performance measures for care from the end of pregnancy through discharge from a hospital or birth center. The project also identifies gaps in measures and areas where new measures are needed. Childbirth Connection's Executive Director, Maureen Corry, served as Co-Chair of the Steering Committee that guided this project. NQF has now endorsed a total of 25 performance measures with special relevance to maternity care. Other NQF projects with implications for maternity care include its standards for informed consent, for consumer-focused public reporting of performance results, and for infection control.What new measures can make a big difference for many mothers and babies?Of the 17 performance measures that the National Quality Forum recently endorsed, several would — if widely implemented — improve care for a large proportion of childbearing women and newborns:
What are the next steps in using performance measurement to improve maternity care quality?More work is needed to ensure that performance measurement results in maternity care quality improvement. Use of the measures is voluntary, and it will be important for those with regulatory or purchasing power (such as states, Medicaid programs and accrediting bodies) to measure performance and publicly report results. Consumers will need access to user-friendly reports and help with interpreting results and using them to choose high quality care. To drive needed quality improvement, purchasers should use results to shape how they pay for and reward high quality maternity care. Feeding results back to maternity health professionals and facilities will help them to improve their care.It will also be important to identify and endorse high-quality national performance measures for segments of maternity care that are not included in the new measure set — pregnancy, postpartum care, and coordination of care across the maternity continuum and between maternity care and the rest of the health care system. It will be crucial to fill in important gaps where sound measures do not currently exist, and to monitor and improve the process of maternity performance measurement. Childbirth Connection's 90th anniversary symposium, Transforming Maternity Care: A High Value Proposition, is bringing together leaders from across the health care system to develop a Blueprint for Action to improve maternity care quality. On the basis of key informant interviews with national policy, quality and maternity leaders and deliberations of the symposium Steering Committee, this project focuses especially on two priority quality improvement strategies: performance measurement and financial incentives. Most recent page update: 12/19/2008
© 2010 Childbirth Connection. All rights reserved.
Childbirth Connection is a national not-for-profit organization founded in 1918 as Maternity Center Association. Our mission is to improve the quality of maternity care through research, education, advocacy and policy. Childbirth Connection promotes safe, effective and satisfying evidence-based maternity care and is a voice for the needs and interests of childbearing families. |
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New VBAC Guidlines
ACOG has just issued new Guidlines for VBAC. What changed? What continues? We've Moved!
On July 1, 2010, the Childbirth Connection office moved to 260 Madison Avenue, 8th Floor, New York, NY 10016. All other contact information is unchanged. New Pregnancy Video Library Available
Our new Video Library features links to a wealth of resources for health professionals as well as for women who are planning pregnancy, are pregnant or are new mothers. Visit the Video Library  "2020 Vision" and "Blueprint for Action" Reports Available Learn about Transforming Maternity Care project Read the "2020 Vision" Read the "Blueprint for Action" Read the Consumer Workgroup report Help implement Blueprint recommendations Listen to report release event audio, 1/2010 eNews Sign Up
Help Transform Maternity Care! Rising Maternal Mortality
Updated Maternity Care Statistics Available
US Cochrane Center (USCC)/Consumers United for Evidence-based Healthcare (CUE) Evidence-Based Maternity Care Report Released New Mothers Speak Out National Report Released New Content!
 Journey to Parenthood Full Book Available Online! A family-friendly book covering the trimesters, pregnancy resources, and the latest information on baby's first year of development. Available online (free) and for purchase in the Bookstore. Browse through Journey to Parenthood  Buy this book and learn more
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