The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a unique, multistakeholder organization instrumental in advancing efforts to improve the quality of America’s healthcare. To carry out its three part mission, NQF sets national goals and priorities for performance improvement, endorses standards for measuring and publicly reporting performance, and promotes national goals for improvement through extensive education and outreach efforts. NQF-endorsed^® national voluntary consensus standards are widely viewed as the “gold standard” for the measurement of healthcare quality.

NQF is the convener and 28^th member of the National Priorities Partnership. NQF is committed to endorsing measures that align with the work and focus areas of the National Priorities Partnership as part of its contribution to the unprecedented movement to bring about healthcare change.

“We have an urgent need to fix healthcare and must have a common vision to succeed,” said Janet M. Corrigan, NQF President and CEO. “The National Priorities Partnership is aligning resources and actions to focus on reform in the areas where change can make the biggest impact.”

NQF brings together disparate stakeholder organizations, works with top leaders across the healthcare field, and follows a congressionally approved consensus development process to endorse measures. Major healthcare purchasers, including the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, rely on NQF-endorsed measures to ensure the measures are scientifically sound and meaningful and to help standardize performance measures used across the industry.

NQF members have a number of unique opportunities, including the ability to comment and vote on measures up for endorsement, participate through member councils, and network with other healthcare leaders. Ultimately, NQF’s multistakeholder collaboration is aimed at promoting a common approach to measuring healthcare quality and fostering systemwide quality improvement.

For more information on the National Quality Forum, please visit www.qualityforum.org.