EXCERPT: “The National Quality Forum (NQF) today released the rural health report: A Core Set of Rural-Relevant Measures. Currently, more than 59 million people live in rural areas. Rural residents are more likely to be in poor health and have higher mortality rates for chronic conditions. These disadvantages are exacerbated by poor access to care compared to urban and suburban communities. To address these challenges, NQF established the Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) Rural Health Workgroup – a key recommendation from NQF’s previous Rural Health project. MAP makes recommendations to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regarding measures that should be included in federal quality reporting and improvement activities. This workgroup identified a core set of best available quality measures that would address key challenges rural residents and providers face. In addition, the report includes recommendations that address the availability, accessibility and affordability of care.” FULLSTORY: http://bit.ly/2MJpOwH
