STATEMENT OF NCQA PRESIDENT MARGARET E. O’KANE ON THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE MEANINGFUL USE WORKGROUP
WASHINGTON – Margaret E. O’Kane, President of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), issued the following statement on the recommendations of the Meaningful Use Workgroup to the Health IT Policy Committee of the Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare Information Technology:
“The Meaningful Use Workgroup’s recommendations demonstrate the long-range vision that is critical for effective reform. These recommendations build upon the work of the National Priorities Partnership and move forward to connect policy priorities that address improving health outcomes, reforming the delivery system, and building routine quality measurement into health care.
“Broader adoption and wiser use of health IT will go a long way towards making our health care system more efficient, more effective, and more patient-centered. Numerous efforts are underway across the country to re-engineer the way health care—especially primary care—is delivered. Health IT is central to many of these efforts. These recommendations take into account some of the short-term challenges revealed by these initiatives. Setting realistic, achievable targets is central to the success of this effort.
“NCQA applauds the efforts of the Health IT Policy Committee and the work of the National Coordinator for Healthcare Information Technology. We look forward to sharing our experience and supporting this initiative to the fullest extent.”
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA’s Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is the most widely used performance measurement tool in health care. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations and recognizes physicians in key clinical areas. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.
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