AHCPR To Support New Quality Measurement Network

Press Release Date: June 4, 1996

The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research is accepting proposals to create a new national resource for quality measurement. The project, to be called the Quality Measurement Network (QMNet), ultimately may aid in the creation of a free-standing quality network.

The purpose of QMNet is to further the state of the art in clinical performance measurement and to assist clinicians, quality improvement managers, health care administrators, health plans, and purchasers in identifying and using clinical performance measures.

Our goal is for QMNet to become a comprehensive, publicly accessible quality measurement resource that helps both the public and private sectors to improve the quality of care delivered in this Nation," said AHCPR Administrator Clifton R. Gaus, Sc.D.

QMNet will focus on maximizing the capabilities of CONQUEST 1.0 (the Computerized Needs-Oriented Quality Measurement Evaluation System), a landmark computer tool designed to make it easier for health plans, providers and purchasers to identify, choose and use clinical performance measures. These measures can help estimate the extent to which health care providers deliver clinical services appropriate for each patient's condition; determine whether services are provided safely, competently and in the appropriate time frame; assess communication with patients and evaluate outcomes from services provided.

CONQUEST 1.0 provides two interlocking databases that permit users to identify and evaluate approximately 1,200 clinical performance measures and 52 clinical conditions. CONQUEST 1.0 also allows users to code and enter their own measures using its structure and classification system. CONQUEST 1.0 is the result of an earlier AHCPR-supported project that developed a typology for classifying and assessing clinical performance measures.

Through advice of an expert panel, the QMNet contractor will examine and evaluate the framework of CONQUEST 1.0, modifying and expanding it where necessary and appropriate to improve its clinical relevance and value. The contractor also will develop a feasibility study for transforming QMNet into a self-supporting entity at the end of the contract period.

This solicitation was published in the May 14 Commerce Business Daily and was released May 29. The closing date for proposals is July 15.

For copies of the QMNet Request for Proposal (AHCPR 96-0005), send a written request to: AHCPR Contracts Management Staff, Executive Office Center, Suite 601, 2101 East Jefferson Street, Rockville, MD 20852, Attention: Al Deal.

For additional information, contact AHCPR Public Affairs: or Salina Prasad, (301) 427-1864.