NPC Weighs in on NQF’s Draft Report on Patient-Reported Outcomes

The National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) submitted comments to the National Quality Forum (NQF) regarding the Patient-Reported Outcomes: Best Practices on Selection and Data Collection draft report. NPC supports the NQF’s foundational work in patient-reported outcomes (PROs), patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) and patient-reported outcome performance measures (PRO-PMs), along with ongoing efforts to build on the work via the draft report.

In partnership with Discern Health, NPC has conducted previous research on PROs in oncology, available in the 2019 white paper, Improving Patient-reported Measures in Oncology. This research provided the foundation for NPC to offer the following comments:

• Applauding the emphasis on patient engagement and recommending the inclusion of caregivers during measure selection and implementation
• Using more inclusive terminology: “patient-reported measures” (PRMs) and “patient-reported performance measures” (PR-PMs)
• Adding domains to capture socioeconomic status and multiple facets of the patient experience
• Supporting the inclusion of the attribute grid with suggestions to expand and clarify 
• Supporting implementation recommendations with additional discussion of funding

The full NPC comment letter can be found here. More information about the NQF Patient-Reported Outcomes Recommendations can be found in their draft report.

For additional information, check out NPC’s research with Discern Health: Improving Patient-Reported Outcomes in Oncologyand Improving Oncology Quality Measurement in Accountable Care.