Two physicians appointed to National Quality Forum Rural Health Workgroup

David Schmitz, professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the School of Medicine and Health Sciences (SMHS), has been appointed the American Academy of Family Physicians’ representative to the National Quality Forum MAP [Measure Applications Partnership] Rural Health Workgroup.

Similarly, SMHS graduate Aaron Garman, medical director and family practice physician at Coal Country Community Health Center (CCCHC) in Beulah, N.D., has been named co-chair of the NQF workgroup.

Founded in 1999, the National Quality Forum (NQF) is a not-for-profit, nonpartisan, membership-based organization that works to catalyze improvements in health care. NQF measures and standards serve as a critically important foundation for initiatives to enhance health care value, make patient care safer, and achieve better outcomes. The federal government, states, and private-sector organizations use NQF’s endorsed measures to evaluate performance and share information with patients and their families.

“As a practicing rural family physician, I am very happy that this workgroup was created,” noted Dr. Garman. “Rural health care needs metrics that are easily measurable, practical, and important for rural providers and the patients that they serve.”