Debra Sietsema Ph.D., R.N. will represent NAON, serving as a member of the National Quality Forum’s (NQF) National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Patient Outcomes Bone & Joint Technical Advisory Panel.  After significant preparatory work, the panel will convene in February 2010 in Washington, D.C. 

NQF promotes change through development and implementation of a national strategy for health care quality measurement and reporting.  The NQF was established in May 1999 as a unique public-private collaborative venture whose mission is to improve the quality of American healthcare by standardizing the measurement and reporting of quality-related information and by otherwise promoting quality improvement.

The current project seeks to identify and endorse measures for public reporting and quality improvement that specifically address patient outcomes in healthcare. This will include cross-cutting outcome measures and specific outcome measures that represent the 20 most common conditions. 

Development of a draft consensus report will be completed, including recommendation of which measures of patient outcomes should be endorsed as consensus standards and an assessment of the gaps in important outcome measures. Each Technical Advisory Panel will support both this Outcomes project as well as an upcoming project on Resource Use.

The Bone & Joint Technical Advisory Panel will especially focus on patient outcomes and quality measurement for bone and joint-related disorders, including osteoporosis, hip/pelvic fractures, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.  This panel will set the stage for future quality and safety measures in orthopaedic clinical care.  Debra Sietsema was nominated for her orthopaedic expertise, research, and quality improvement experience.