NCQA history

NCQA began its accreditation program in 1991 with MCOs, and since expanded to behavioral health care organizations, credentials verification organizations, physician organizations, and, most recently, PPOs.

Quality is defined as the degree to which the processes are in conformance with the requirements” (Crosby, 1994). Regardless of which definition one prefers, one thing that has become certain is that health care quality has long since stopped being viewed as a subjective phenomenon.

The Foundation for Health Care Accountability, established in 1995, has developed consumer-focused quality measurement guides, including: adult asthma, alcohol abuse, breast cancer, diabetes, health status under age 65, and major depressive disorder.

James Doherty, CEO of the Group Health Association of America for 15 years, said in 1996, “HMOs needed to subject their operations to external review by an independent quality assurance body.”

The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 implemented the Medicare+Choice (M+C) program, allowing coordinated health plans (HMOs, PSOs, and PPOs), fee-for-service plans (FFS), and medical savings account (MSA) plans to serve Medicare beneficiaries.

As called for in the commission's recommendations, the National Forum for Health Care Quality and Reporting, a not-for-profit membership organization formally incorporated in May 1999, is devoted to developing and implementing a national strategy for health care quality measurement and reporting.

The Future of Health Care Medscape—Millenium 2000 series. www.medscape.com. [Google Scholar]Lohr K, editor.