National Quality Forum Endorses IMS Health Measures to Improve Medication Safety and Quality
NORWALK, Conn.-(Business Wire)-August 26, 2009 - IMS Health (NYSE: RX), the world’s leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, has received the endorsement of the National Quality Forum (NQF) for two of its clinical quality indicators for measuring medication usage and patient adherence. The IMS measures address the use of antipsychotics by patients with schizophrenia, and medications used by patients with coronary artery disease. Consensus standards endorsed by NQF are used for measuring and publicly reporting on the performance of different aspects of the U.S. healthcare system, and are widely viewed as the “gold standard” for the measurement of healthcare quality.
“IMS is very proud that our measures have been endorsed by NQF, and that we’re actively participating in this national effort to standardize quality of care measurement and to determine priorities for improvement,” said Murray Aitken, senior vice president, Healthcare Insight, IMS. “NQF’s leadership in identifying gaps in healthcare measurement can help move us all toward a more cohesive and systematic approach for measuring and improving quality of care.”
Health plan providers increasingly use claims-based indicators as the basis for driving high-quality, cost-effective healthcare. Payer initiatives for improvement include compensating physicians on a pay-for-performance basis, assigning physicians to different tiers of their plan networks, and providing greater information transparency for consumers.
To date, more than 100 clinical quality indicators have been developed by IMS’s expert clinicians, researchers and informatics specialists within the company’s Payer Solutions group. Each indicator supports the practice of evidence-based medicine for specific treatments and is updated annually to adhere to the most current clinical guidelines.
“IMS works with both payers and pharmaceutical companies in their efforts to improve the appropriateness and effectiveness of healthcare,” said Dr. Antonio Legorreta, general manager, Health Benchmarks, IMS. “Our clients expect rigorous clinical validation of our quality metrics, and our participation in the NQF process demonstrates that commitment.”
In this latest round of submissions to NQF, the organization endorsed 18 medication management measures in the areas of adherence and education, decision making, prescribing, safe medication use, and system coordination and communication.
About IMS
Operating in more than 100 countries, IMS Health is the world’s leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries. With $2.3 billion in 2008 revenue and more than 50 years of industry experience, IMS offers leading-edge market intelligence products and services that are integral to clients’ day-to-day operations, including product and portfolio management capabilities; commercial effectiveness innovations; managed care and consumer health offerings; and consulting and services solutions that improve productivity and the delivery of quality healthcare worldwide. Additional information is available at http://www.imshealth.com.
About National Quality Forum (NQF)
The mission of the National Quality Forum is to improve the quality of American healthcare by setting national priorities and goals for performance improvement, endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance, and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs. NQF, a non-profit organization (www.qualityforum.org) with diverse stakeholders across the public and private health sectors, was established in 1999 and is based in Washington, DC.
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