NQMC - Resources

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

The National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC), sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides responses to frequently asked questions (FAQ). We will add additional NQMC FAQ as we further develop this Web site. If you have any suggestions or comments, or other questions that are not listed in the FAQ, send an e-mail to info@qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov.

NQMC contains measures grouped into 7 measure domains.

A process of care is a health care service provided to, on behalf of, or by a patient appropriately based on scientific evidence of efficacy or effectiveness.
An outcome of care is a health state of a patient resulting from health care.
Access to care is a patient's or enrollee's attainment of timely and appropriate health care.
Experience of care is a patient's or enrollee's report concerning observations of and participation in health care.
Structure of care is a feature of a healthcare organization or clinician relevant to its capacity to provide health care.
A use of service is the provision of a service to, on behalf of, or by a group of persons defined by geographic location, organizational or non-clinical characteristics without determination of the appropriateness of the service for the specified individuals. Use of service measures can assess encounters, tests, interventions as well as the efficiency of the delivery of these services.
Population health is the state of health of a group of persons defined by geographic location, organizational affiliation or non-clinical characteristics. (Eligibility for measures of population health is not restricted to recipients of clinical care.)

2. Which of the 7 measure domains assess the quality of care provided by health care professionals and organizations?

Measures of access, process, outcome, and patient experience assess the quality of care provided by health care professionals and organizations.

Measures of structure assess the capacity of health care professionals and organizations to provide high quality of care.

3. For what purposes are the use of services and population health measure domains used?

These measure domains are used to monitor trends in use of services and population health; but are not direct measures of the quality of clinical care. These measure domains are available in NQMC to classify other types of measures if those measures are used in conjunction with clinical performance measures as part of a measure set. Please see our Measure Validity page for more information.

4. Does NQMC provide benchmarking data or measure results?

NQMC is a public repository for evidence-based quality measures and measure sets that meet the NQMC inclusion criteria. NQMC does not provide benchmarking data or measure results.

5. Does NQMC develop measures or provide specific guidance for developing measures?

NQMC is a public repository for evidence-based quality measures and measure sets that meet the NQMC inclusion criteria. NQMC does not develop measures or provide specific guidance for developing measures.

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Measure Submissions, Inclusion Criteria, Copyright Permission

1. How do I submit measures for possible inclusion in NQMC?

NQMC invites organizations, societies, and other developers of quality measures to submit measures and related background information to NQMC. Measures that meet the NQMC inclusion criteria are then abstracted using the NQMC Template of Measure Attributes. Please see the How to Submit Measures page for more information.

2. What are NQMC's criteria for inclusion?

There are 9 criteria that measures must meet to be included in NQMC. Please see the Inclusion Criteria page.

3. Is a submitted measure automatically in the public domain or can a proprietary measure be submitted and included in NQMC without relinquishing ownership of the instrument?

Submitting a measure to NQMC does not mean that you will be relinquishing ownership of your instrument (should it be accepted for inclusion in NQMC). NQMC creates a structured abstract of each measure (Measure Summary). Complete measure specification information is not included in the measure summaries. In addition, providing direct access to the full-text of your instrument/measure on the NQMC Web site is not required. Alternatively, you may provide us with ordering information for users who wish to acquire the full measure from the developer.

4. Is the information accessed through the NQMC Web site at www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov available for public use? Are there copyright restrictions?

In general, there are no copyright restrictions that prevent users from copying and/or distributing content found on the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse™ (NQMC) Web site, provided that all such content is appropriately identified. NQMC's content (i.e., measure summaries) is available for public use, and we encourage the distribution of our content, particularly for educational purposes.

NQMC summary content may not however, be used for commercial and/or product endorsement purposes. In addition, in rare instances some measure developers have requested more restricted use of the measure summaries of their measures.

Please also note that NQMC staff seek and receive permission from measure developers for permission to include summaries of the original full text measures that appear at www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov. Consequently, NQMC does NOT have the authority to grant copyright clearance for the original full text measures included in NQMC. Users must contact the measure developer individually with such requests.

Users can refer to the "COPYRIGHT STATEMENT" field at the end of the NQMC Summary for information pertaining to restrictions as specified by the individual measure developers regarding the original full text measure, and/or less frequently, the NQMC measure summary itself.

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Searching/Browsing NQMC

1. How can I find measures on a specific topic?

Go to NQMC's How to Search and How to Browse pages to learn useful tips on how to search and browse the NQMC database for measures of interest.

You can type your search term in the Search box accessible on all NQMC Web pages to quickly search the database.

You can also use NQMC's Detailed Search feature to perform very specific and refined searches of the NQMC database. This feature allows you to filter your search by one or more measure attributes, including Care Setting, Professionals Responsible for Health Care, Current Use, Data Source, etc.

Use NQMC's Browse feature to browse the NQMC database by Disease/Condition, Treatment/Intervention, Domain, or Organization.

2. Is NQMC searching the complete, full-text measure for my search terms?

No. In the Basic Search mode, NQMC searches the contents of the Complete Summary for any measure. In the Detailed Search mode, NQMC searches the specific field in the database corresponding to the criteria you enter or select. This is done to improve the relevance (precision) of the search results.

For more information on searching measures, see NQMC Search Help.

3. Is the NQMC search engine case sensitive?

No. NQMC searches do not recognize the difference between upper and lower case letters.

For more information on searching measures, see the NQMC Search Help.

4. My search returned a results page stating "no measures were found" -- Why doesn't NQMC have any measures on my topic?

It is possible that a search may not find any measures matching the criteria you specified. This can happen for several reasons:

Your search may be too narrow -- try broadening your search using the "OR" operator or truncating some of the words using the asterisk "*" symbol.
You may have misspelled a word.
The NQMC Web site may not yet have the measure you are looking for -- its content is constantly changing, with new measures added frequently. Bookmark this site and make sure to check back often. To be notified by e-mail on a weekly basis when new content is added to the site, subscribe to the NQMC Update Service.

For more information on searching measures, see NQMC Search Help.

5. Is there a quick way to find measures associated with a specific measure initiative (e.g., National Healthcare Quality Report, Hospital Quality Alliance, Nursing Home Compare)?

NQMC provides a Measure Initiative Browse to find measures in NQMC that are associated with a specific measurement initiative. A brief description of each measure initiative as well as measures represented in NQMC that are included in the initiative is provided.

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NQMC Publication Activity

1. How can I find out about new measures that are published to the NQMC Web site?

You can register for the NQMC Update E-mail Service to receive notices of weekly additions and updates posted to the Web site. Go to the NQMC Subscription page to register for this service.

You can also manage your own subscription (change your e-mail address or unsubscribe from the service) using the NQMC Subscription page. Enter the e-mail address that you wish to subscribe or unsubscribe, and click on "Get subscriptions for this e-mail address."

This page also allows users to choose the format (HTML or Text) of the E-mail that they receive.

2. How can I subscribe to the What's New Weekly E-mail or modify my existing subscription?

Users can subscribe, unsubscribe or modify their subscription to the NQMC Weekly E-mail service using the NQMC Subscription Management utility.

3. What happens when a Measure Summary is removed from the NQMC Web site?

Please refer to the Measure Summary Archive for more information. This feature provides a complete list of NQMC Measure Summaries (with NQMC accession numbers) that have been withdrawn from the NQMC Web site. Information regarding a current NQMC Summary, where available, is provided. The listing is organized alphabetically, by organization name.

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Technical Questions

1. What browsers work with the NQMC site?

NQMC recommends using the current versions of Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. View the Compatible Browsers page for a full list of browsers tested with NQMC.

2. How can another health-related Web site establish a link from it to NQMC?

NQMC welcomes appropriate Web sites to establish links from their pages to www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov. For more information, see the Linking to NQMC page.

3. Are the NQMC Measure Summaries available in a downloadable format suitable for use with a handheld computer, Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), etc.?

The Complete Summary of all NQMC summaries is available for download for use with a handheld computer (PDA/Palm devices). Users will find this download option listed in the "Summary" box on the left at the top of both the Brief and Complete Summary pages. Please see the PDA/Palm page for more information.

4. Is NQMC content available for download to PocketPC users?

Pocket PC users require no special support to view and download files from the NQMC Web site.

Please see our Palm Download page for more information.

5. What does NQMC offer to system developers?

NQMC has developed several tools for system developers interested in using the content contained on the NQMC Web site. Please see the Search Form and Web Developer Tools pages.

6. When I hit the "Back" button of my browser, I receive a "Page Cannot be Displayed" error message. Is there something I can do to prevent this error?

This problem is related to your Internet browser settings, particularly if you are using Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). You may be able to resolve this issue by changing your browser settings:

Go to "Tools" in the upper menu bar of your browser and select "Internet Options"
Select the "General" tab
Click on "Settings" in the group box labeled "Temporary Internet Files"
Under the group labeled "Check for newer versions of saved pages," select "Every visit to the page"
Select "Ok" and then "Ok" again
Close and re-open your browser

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Other FAQs

1. Is CONQUEST still available for download from AHRQ?

The Computerized Needs-Oriented Quality Measurement Evaluation System (CONQUEST) is no longer viewed as current guidance for quality improvement. However, NQMC builds on AHRQ's previous initiatives in quality measurement, including CONQUEST, the Expansion of Quality of Care Measures (Q-SPAN) project, the Quality Measurement Network (QMNet) project, and the Performance Measures Inventory (PMI).

AHRQ is now redirecting users to the NQMC (www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov) to provide practitioners, health care providers, health plans, integrated delivery systems, purchasers and others an accessible mechanism for obtaining detailed information on evidence-based health care quality measures and to further dissemination, implementation, and use of these measures in order to inform health care decisions. NQMC provides the latest information on selecting and comparing measures to assist users in assessing clinical performance to inform health care decisions.

2. How do I return to the NQMC Home Page?

Clicking on the NQMC logo, located in the top left corner of the banner, will link back to the NQMC Home Page.

3. How do I obtain print copies of the full-text measure described in the NQMC Measure Summary?

NQMC is not able to directly fulfill orders for printed copies of the measures. However, users can find out more information, including whether there is a copy of the full-text measure available via the Web, by viewing the NQMC Measure Summary for any particular measure. General information regarding availability of the measure can be found in a field labeled "Measure Availability" which is found towards the end of each Measure Summary. Links to full-text, where available, can also be found in this field.

4. How do I obtain the NQMC CD-ROM Tutorial?

The NQMC CD-ROM tutorial walks you through a series of informative demonstrations and scenarios on using the NQMC and is available free of charge by contacting:

AHRQ Publications Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 8547
Silver Spring, MD 20907-8547
Telephone: 800-358-9295
E-mail: ahrqpubs@ahrq.gov

5. What is the contact information for the National Quality Measures Clearinghouse?

As NQMC is an Internet resource, the appropriate contact information is the NQMC Web address, http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov and the general e-mail, info@qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov, rather than a mailing address, telephone and fax number. For more information, please see the Contact NQMC page.

6. How do I maximize the screen display size when looking at the measure views (e.g., Brief Summary, Complete Summary, Measure Comparison)?

The "Hide Menu" and "Show Menu" features located at the top of the page are designed to let users minimize and maximize the menus as needed. We recommend that users use the "Hide Menu" feature when viewing the measure summaries and other views in NQMC, in order to avoid having to scroll the display across the screen to the right to see the complete view.

7. How do I cite the information found at the NQMC Web site (e.g., an NQMC Measure Summary)?

The suggested citation format for an NQMC Measure Summary is:

National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC). Measure summary: [insert title of summary] ([insert developer/submitter organization name]). In: National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC) [Web site]. Rockville (MD): [cited YYYY Mon DD]. Available: http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov

Example: National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC). Measure summary: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair: mortality rate (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality). In: National Quality Measures Clearinghouse (NQMC) [Web site]. Rockville (MD): [cited 2008 Mar 19]. Available: http://www.qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Scope of NQMC

Measure Submissions, Inclusion Criteria, Copyright Permission

Searching/Browsing NQMC

NQMC Publication Activity

Technical Questions

Other FAQs

Scope of NQMC

Measure Submissions, Inclusion Criteria, Copyright Permission

Searching/Browsing NQMC

NQMC Publication Activity

Technical Questions

Other FAQs

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