NCQA Launches Digital Quality Solutions Pilot

May 31, 2022 · Matt Brock

This is big.

We’ve launched our inaugural Digital Quality Solutions pilot, a software product development project with six trailblazing health plans, delivery systems and health information technology firms.

Building Digital Quality Solutions Together

We expect these pilot organizations to give vital feedback on the usefulness, feasibility and value of NCQA software and next generation measure prototypes intended to align quality measurement across the healthcare system.

As part of the pilot program, organizations will assess the software’s usability; test product features; and provide feedback on implications to HEDIS measure reporting and value-add to quality improvement and care management efforts.

“The health care industry needs to accelerate the move to digital equality, and there’s a tremendous opportunity for digital measurement solutions that are more powerful, configurable and dynamic than anything available now,” said NCQA Chief Product Officer, Dr. Brad Ryan. “We are excited about this pilot as a meaningful step toward improving health care in real time. This is an opportunity to build on HEDIS by moving to a more connected, consistent framework for the digital quality measurement that underlies value-based contracting.”

“For more than 30 years, NCQA has led the health care quality movement. In today’s digital age and with more data available, there’s an opportunity to ensure that measurement is more accessible, actionable and closer to the point of care to manage population health, create more equitable care and drive better outcomes,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “By working with digital quality trailblazers, we will evolve measures from paper-based to fully executable, improve configurability to support various use cases and give measures the flexibility to add value and insight at different levels of the health care system.”

Six Pilot Participants Blaze New Trails

The pilot will last approximately six months and include workshops and feedback sessions with the participating organizations:

• 1UpHealth
• Aetna, a CVS Company
• ApolloMed
• Change Healthcare
• Centauri Health Solutions
• Health Care Service Corporation

The Digital Quality Solutions pilot is the first of its kind for NCQA in two ways.

First, it uses “agile” software development techniques that emphasize frequent iteration and steady input from users. Second, the project involves a range of organization types—helping diversify NCQA beyond its roots as a quality evaluator of health plans and physician practices.

For more information about NCQA’s digital quality efforts, visit our web site’s Digital Solutions Page.