NQF Maintains Endorsement of Quality Standards for Hair Removal and Registry Participation

Board also removes "time-limited" status on 34 endorsed quality standards

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Quality Forum (NQF) Board of Directors maintained endorsement of two measures under NQF's ad hoc review process, and removed the "time-limited" status on 34 NQF-endorsed® measures.  

The measures considered under ad hoc review address hair removal before surgery and participation in a systematic clinician database registry.  

• Surgery Patients with Appropriate Hair Removal: This measure was considered under ad hoc review because of concerns that the evidence did not support hair removal for specific surgeries. The Board voted to continue endorsement of this measure with minor modifications to reflect evidence changes regarding hair removal for neurosurgical and scrotum procedures.
• Participation in a Clinician Database Registry: This measure, which addresses physician and other clinician participation in a database registry, was reviewed because material changes have been made since its endorsement. Endorsement of this measure was maintained and expanded to reflect the addition of hospital-level participation in a registry.  

The NQF Board also approved removing time-limited status on 34 endorsed measures, originally endorsed as time-limited, to allow measure stewards to submit testing results. The provision of those results led to removal of the time-limited designation.  

NQF is a voluntary consensus standards-setting organization. Any party may request reconsideration of the recommendations by notifying NQF in writing via e-mail at [email protected] by October 26, 2010. For an appeal to be considered, the notification e-mail must include information clearly demonstrating that the appellant has interests that are directly and materially affected by the NQF-endorsed recommendations and that the NQF decision has had (or will have) an adverse effect on those interests.

The mission of the National Quality Forum is to improve the quality of American healthcare by setting

national priorities and goals for performance improvement, endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance, and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs.  NQF, a non-profit organization (www.qualityforum.org) with diverse stakeholders across the public and private health sectors, was established in 1999 and is based in Washington, DC.

SOURCE National Quality Forum