NPC: Bringing Patient-Centeredness to Quality Measurement in Health Care

The following is an exerpt from a new National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) blog.

Quality measures can help payers to reward better care, providers to take action to improve care, and patients to make informed decisions about where to seek care. Yet many quality measures are based on what we can readily measure—whether certain processes were followed or whether specific outcomes were reached, like lower HbA1c levels for diabetes. And while those are helpful measures because they can provide us with clear steps to follow when providing care to patients, especially those with complex conditions, better engaging patients in the development of quality measures can ensure the focus is on what matters most to patients.

To encourage patient engagement, the National Health Council (NHC) launched an online educational series that focuses on why quality is important in the current health care environment and how patients and patient organizations can become strong advocates for quality. In addition, the NHC, the Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) and National Quality Forum (NQF) recently announced they are partnering on a collaborative to create the Patient-Centered Engagement Rubric for Quality Measurement, which will offer health care stakeholders an opportunity to assess how well quality measures incorporate patient input in development and implementation.

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