The National Quality Forum (NQF) has issued a call for healthcare performance measures related to healthcare disparities and cultural competency for consideration in its national consensus standards development process. In August, NQF published a paper authored by the Disparities Solution Center at Massachusetts General Hospital that proposes a framework for the standards.
Specifically, NQF is seeking to identify and endorse performance measures for public reporting and quality improvement in the following areas:
- racial/ethnic healthcare disparities;
- language barriers/improving language access services, which include interpreter services and translation;
- cultural competency, in particular measures related to the NQF-endorsed framework and preferred practices;
- health information technology system capacity to measure and improve healthcare disparities and cultural competency;
- integrating health communication (language, literacy, and culture);
- health-related quality of life;
- care coordination as it relates to improving healthcare disparities and cultural
competency; - patient perceptions/provider biases;
- and use of “navigation” services.
The call for measures is open until January 18, 2012. Measures must be submitted through the NQF website.
Ignatius Bau 