Disclaimer Statement

Purpose and Sponsorship

The National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR), sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is an Internet Web site intended to make evidence-based quality measures and related summaries and comparison information widely available to health care professionals. NHQR is sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). AHRQ sponsors and maintains the NHQR pursuant to statutory mandates (1) to coordinate, conduct, and support research, demonstrations, and evaluations related to the measurement and improvement of health care quality, (2) to develop research and build partnerships with health care practitioners and health care systems to promote patient safety and reduce medical errors, and (3) to promote the use of information systems to develop and disseminate quality and outcomes research. The quality measures and some of the related materials on this site are the products of named organizations that are solely responsible for their content. Objective summaries of the measures at this site are prepared by AHRQ's contractor, ECRI, in consultation with the responsible organizations that prepared the respective measures. The authors and publishers of every document at this site are identified at the end of each document.

Intended Audience

The informational offerings presented on this site are intended primarily for the following audiences:

• Physicians, nurses, and other health care professionals and provider organizations
• Health plans, health systems, health care organizations, hospitals, and integrated health care delivery systems
• Medical specialty and professional societies
• Researchers
• Federal, State, and local government health care policymakers and specialists
• Employee benefit managers and purchasers of care.

Definition and Selection of Evidence-based Quality Measures and Related Materials

The NHQR database contains evidence-based quality measures meeting specific inclusion criteria that rely on the following definitions:

• "Quality of care is the degree to which health care services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge." ¹
• "A measure is a mechanism to assign a quantity to an attribute by comparison to a criterion."
• "A quality measure is a mechanism to assign a quantity to quality of care by comparison to a criterion."
• "Clinical performance is the degree of accomplishment of desired health objectives by a clinician or health care organization."
• "A clinical performance measure is a subtype of quality measure that is a mechanism for assessing the degree to which a provider competently and safely delivers clinical services that are appropriate for the patient in the optimal time period."

Although AHRQ set minimum inclusion criteria which are published in the Federal Register and on this site, NHDR does not make judgments regarding the comparative quality of information on the site. NHDR verifies that each measure meets the established minimum criteria for inclusion, but does not evaluate the quality of the original measure's content.

Disclaimers

AHRQ and its contractor ECRI make no warranties concerning the content of the quality measures and related materials. Inclusion of any measure in the NHDR does not constitute or imply an endorsement by the AHRQ, or its contractor ECRI, of the measures or of the submitter or developer of any such measures.

Any reference in the NHDR materials, or in material linked to the NHDR, to a specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, or manufacturer, does not constitute or imply an endorsement, recommendation, or any favoritism by the United States Government or its contractor ECRI. The views and opinions of authors in the documents on this site do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or its contractor ECRI, and shall not be used for advertising or product endorsement purposes.

With respect to the information available from this site, neither the United States Government or its contractor ECRI, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, expressed or implied, including the warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose, or assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, clinical efficacy or value of any such information or any apparatus, product, or process described or referenced in the NHDR material or in material at other sites linked to the NHDR Web site.

Permission and requirements regarding reproduction and downloading of respective documents and files are specific to each measure and related documents in the NHQR database. Please read carefully and comply with specific notices on downloading and reproduction contained within each document. Documents available from this site may be protected under U.S. and foreign copyright laws unless otherwise noted. Permission to reproduce or to disseminate further may be required.

Site Protection and Monitoring Notice

To assure the integrity of information on this site and to make it responsive to public needs and demand requirements, NHDR will monitor system access against actions to disable these on-line services and against deliberate efforts to gain unauthorized access to restricted portions of the NHQR Web site.

By accessing this site you are consenting to system monitoring for law enforcement and other purposes. AHRQ has not restricted linked sites from obtaining information about visitors to their sites.

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¹Institute of Medicine. (1992). Guidelines for Clinical Practice: From Development to Use. M.J. Field and K.N. Lohr (eds.) Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

© 2004 Quality Tools Date Modified: 9/1/2004
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