The Affordable Care Act required the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop a National Quality Strategy that would make care safe, effective, and affordable.
The U.S. population is growing in size. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that about one-third of the nation's adults are obese, and many of them become patients at U.S. hospitals, in need of surgeries of varying kinds.
In August, the National Quality Forum (NQF) endorsed 41 new measures of pediatric care quality covering a wide range of child care, from prenatal care to blood pressure and physical development screening for youth ages 13 through 18.
