The National Priorities Partnership (NPP) has published five case studies that explore “on-the-ground” application and alignment with national priorities for improving healthcare.

NPP – a multi-stakeholder group of healthcare leaders convened by the National Quality Forum (NQF) – provides guidance to government and the private sector on quality and performance improvement.

The case studies, which officials say are part of an independent evaluation of the NPP’s impact to date building consensus and catalyzing action around national priorities and goals in healthcare, explore ways various priority areas which are supportive of the National Quality Strategy (NQS). Developing a strategy was a requirement of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

[See also: NPP lays out roadmap for quality improvement.]

“These case studies illuminate how the critical work of the NPP is being carried out across different settings,” said NPP co-chair Helen Darling, president and CEO of the National Business Group on Health. “Despite their different roles within healthcare, each found a way to use the NPP framework and the partnership as part of their healthcare improvement efforts.”

The five participating organizations and their areas of focus are:

• HealthPartners, an integrated healthcare system located in Bloomington, Minn. The case study focuses on how the organization leveraged NPP championing of population health and reducing racial and ethnic disparities.
• Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute, a healthcare provider and not-for-profit health plan serving 9 million people in nine states and Washington, D.C. The case study focuses  on care coordination and transitions – for example when patients move from hospital to home or into palliative care;
• The North Carolina Quality Center for Hospital Quality and Patient Safety, an organization created to help increase safety and quality in North Carolina. The case study focuses on the Center’s adoption of national priorities to serve as a framework and to galvanize improvements in patient safety at hospitals statewide.   
• The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA), a multi-stakeholder membership organization that promotes appropriate medication use and develops strategies for measuring and reporting performance information related to medications. The case study focuses on PQA’s partnership with NPP to drive population health improvement through better medication management.
• The Spine Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, one of the flagship institutions of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock health system, in Lebanon, N.H. The case study focuses on how the center leveraged NPP’s heightened attention to reduce the overuse of care and improve patient and family engagement in care.

During in-person visits with evaluators, leaders at each site said they looked to the NPP’s work and recommendations as guideposts to affirm future goal-setting; several sites embedded these goals in their organization’s strategic plans. Organization leaders also agreed that the national priorities supported by the NPP were well-fitted to current directions being taken in their organizations. NPP’s broad outreach capabilities, including through its convener, the NQF, was also seen as a strength.

“We look forward to utilizing this information to shape our agenda for the future, as we continue to provide guidance on national priorities and goals for performance improvement and work in partnership to achieve positive change in health and healthcare,” said NPP Co-Chair Bernie Rosof, MD, chair of the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, convened by the American Medical Association.

[See also: NQF endorses four new patient quality care measures .]

“The overarching goal of the NPP is to support alignment with the National Quality Strategy and its goals for quality and safety improvement,” said Janet Corrigan, president and CEO of NQF.  “The user data these case studies provide will allow NPP to further strengthen their framework and provide additional opportunities for organizations to integrate into their own decision-making process.”

Read the full case studies here.