Key Participants

The overall goal of the Cancer Quality of Care Measures Project is to identify a core set of quality of care process measures for adoption as voluntary consensus standards and to pinpoint areas for new measures development. Achieving this goal requires that a number of groups work together closely over the project's 29-month timeline, which calls for publication of final reports and recommendations in Fall 2006.

Federal Partners

NCI, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have joined together to help design and provide financial support for the project. These agencies serve as liaison (non-voting) members of the Steering Committee.

National Quality Forum (NQF)

NQF is a private, not-for-profit membership organization created to develop and implement a national strategy for healthcare quality measurement and reporting. NQF manages the project, coordinates the adoption of the consensus standards that emerge from the project, and supports public reporting of information derived from the use of these measures.

Steering Committee

This group provides overall guidance for the project and its panels. It is composed of well-known experts drawn from a wide range of private and public organizations concerned with the quality of care and performance measurement. These organizations encompass clinical oncology practice, professional associations, patient advocacy groups, accreditation and standard setting organizations, policy-making and advisory boards, federal and state government agencies, insurers, and quality evaluation and improvement organizations.

The Steering Committee constituted for Phase I drew members from organizations that included the following:

• American Association of Health Plans (now AHIP)
• American Cancer Society (ACS)
• American College of Radiology (ACR)
• American College of Surgeons (ACoS)
• American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)
• California Health Decisions (patient advocacy)
• CMS Quality Improvement Organizations
• Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO)
• Midwest Business Group on Health (business coalition)
• National Cancer Institute
• National Cancer Policy Board (NCPB)
• National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship (NCCS)
• National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)
• National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN)
• Oncology Nursing Society (ONS)
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
• U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM)

It is expected that the Steering Committee now being formed for Phase II will include members drawn from these organizations, plus others. Under the terms established for Phase II, the National Quality Forum (not the sponsoring federal agencies) appoints the Steering Committee. All inquiries regarding Steering Committee membership should be directed to NQF.

Three Technical Panels

Each panel focuses on one priority area. Panels conduct technical and scientific reviews that form the basis of recommendations to the Steering Committee on draft voluntary consensus standards for that priority area. Panels also identify gaps in the priority area that could benefit from additional testing of existing measures or from development of new measures. Technical panels consider a variety of materials in their reviews, including AHRQ-funded evidence-based reviews, material from an NQF "Call for Measures", and additional material suggested by Steering Committee or Technical Panel members and NQF. The NQF appoints the Technical Panels, and nominations for membership should be directed to NQF.

Data and Methods Panel

The Data and Methods Panel provides overarching guidance to the Technical Panels and the Steering Committee about criteria for evaluating evidence and recommending candidate quality of care measurements, and about criteria for measures testing and development. The NQF appoints this panel, and nominations for membership should be directed to the NQF.