SEP-1 Quality Measure Under "Appeal" At National Quality Forum; CANCELED APRIL 29

Update - NQF "Dismisses SEP-1 Appeal," see Sepsis Alliance announcement, April 29, 2022, here.

Prior Text:

Update - See an April 2022 article in NEJM, that "quality measures" are a "flawed system" for "fixing a flawed system."  Here.  

Update - when I wrote this, I understood SEP-1 comments were open to March 16, which is what the website still shows, and would be discussed on video at a April 29 meeting.  Now, I don't see an April 29 web meeting (for SEP-1 to be appended to) and my best reading is that they will be discussed at a video meeting on June 3.

https://www.qualityforum.org/ProjectEventsList.aspx?projectID=86057

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As I've described from year to year on this blog, the SEP-1 CMS quality measure has an unusual and colorful policy history (for example here.)

That colorfulness continues.  See a story about an appeal filed against the latest SEP-1 decision by Joyce Frieden at MedPage today, March 8 - here.

Despite a turbulent volume of conflicting literature and opinions, and some strong guidelines or position papers from several medical associations such as IDSA, the quality measure got through its five-year review at NQF this summer with relatively limited discussion.   After public comment cycles it was endorsed as renewed around December 1, 2021.

The NQF website can be devilishly hard to navigate, but it shows that an Appeal of the SEP-1 process has been lodged by a number of major associations, such as IDSA, ACEP, SHEA, and others.

This is the master page for the Patient Safety forum, and it shows COMMENT on the APPEAL is open to March 16, 2022:

https://www.qualityforum.org/ProjectMeasures.aspx?projectID=86057&cycleNo=1&cycleYear=2021

This is the project materials website for the Patient Safety forum, and if you track back to March 3, you'll see the APPEAL document is posted (the two page PDF letter).

https://www.qualityforum.org/ProjectMaterials.aspx?projectID=86057

You can read incoming comments to date on this website:

https://www.qualityforum.org/commenting/publiccommentform.aspx?project=86057&form=206

I've put a cloud copy of the appeal letter here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FZaykTutc0bu24UKN1JQW33GHBcrL768/view?usp=sharing

It sounds like a public or video discussion of the Appeal may occur at the upcoming April 29, 2022 committee meeting.

click to enlarge