The National Quality Forum (NQF) is a not-for-profit membership organization that convenes healthcare stakeholders from the public and private sectors with the aim to foster quality improvement. Today there are approximately 300 NQF-endorsed measures used by more than 20 federal public reporting and pay-for-performance programs as well as in private-sector and state programs. Additionally, the Department of Health and Human Services relies on the guidance of NQF to foster the use of a more uniform set of measures across federal programs that provide health coverage for about 120 million Americans.
The Commission on Cancer (CoC) continues to receive endorsement from NQF for five quality measures. Each measure is evaluated by NQF for suitability on (1) importance, (2) scientific acceptability, (3) feasibility, (4) usability, and (5) related and competing measures. The CoC measures are endorsed for either the accountability or quality improvement categories. Accountability measures are suitable for public reporting, payment incentive programs, and the selection of providers by consumers, health plans, or purchasers. The quality improvement designation indicates measure use for internal monitoring of performance within an organization or group so that analyses and subsequent remedial actions can be taken.
Measure | Initial Endorsement Year | Endorsement Category |
| (NQF #0219) Radiation therapy is administered within 1 year (365 days) of diagnosis for women under age 70 receiving breast conserving surgery for breast cancer. | 2007 | Accountability |
| Combination chemotherapy or chemo-immunotherapy (if HER2 positive) is recommended or administered within 4 months (120 days) of diagnosis for women under 70 with AJCC T1cN0M0, or stage IB - III hormone receptor negative breast cancer. | 2007 | Accountability |
| (NQF #0220) Tamoxifen or third generation aromatase inhibitor is recommended or administered within 1 year (365 days) of diagnosis for women with AJCC T1cN0M0, or stage IB - III hormone receptor-positive breast cancer. | 2007 | Accountability |
| (NQF #0223) Adjuvant chemotherapy is recommended or administered within 4 months (120 days) of diagnosis for patients under the age of 80 with AJCC Stage III (lymph node positive) colon cancer. | 2007 | Accountability |
| At least 12 regional lymph nodes are removed and pathologically examined for resected colon cancer. | 2007 | Quality Improvement |
For questions related to these quality measures, please contact the NCDB at ncdb@facs.org.
