With specialized scientific knowledge, clinical experience, and methodology expertise, rheumatologists are the most qualified professionals to develop and evaluate quality of care measures for patients with rheumatic illnesses.
Through its members, the ACR is leading the creation of rheumatology-related quality measures. ACR also is strongly advocating for systems and payors nationwide to adopt only ACR-approved measures. To help ACR in these endeavors, the College convened a Quality Measures White Paper Development Workgroup. This diverse group’s activities culminated in publication of the paper, Defining Quality of Care in Rheumatology: The American College of Rheumatology White Paper on Quality Measurement 
, in the January 2011 issue of Arthritis Care & Research. This manuscript synthesizes the information most relevant to the ACR membership regarding quality measurement and provides a consensus-based set of criteria for the review of quality measures submitted to ACR for approval. The criteria guide measure developers and discourage adoption of subpar measures.
This White Paper now serves as the basis for ACR procedures regarding review of quality measures developed externally. Â Questions or comments regarding the ACR quality measure review criteria can be submitted via the ‘Contact Us’ function on the Quality main page.
View ACR developed or approved quality indicators by clicking on the links below:
Rheumatoid Arthritis
Osteoporosis
Gout
Drug Safety
What is a quality measure?
A quality measure quantifies the quality of care, as defined by comparison to a criterion. A performance measure is a type of quality measure designed to assess the extent to which the actions of a healthcare provider conform to practice guidelines or standards of quality.
Quality measures include denominators, numerators, and (if relevant) denominator exclusions. For performance measures assessing processes of care, these can be summarized as follows:
- Denominator: identifies the eligible cases for a measure. This should include all patients who are expected to receive the care process (e.g., treatment, service, counseling) targeted in the numerator.
- Numerator: describes the action required for the measure.
- Exclusions: identify subsets of the patient population that should be removed from the denominator for the measure calculation (e.g., patient allergies, patient refusal). Appropriate exclusions should be considered for each measure; some measures do not have exclusions.
ACR Rheumatology Clinical Registry (RCR)
ACR implements quality measures through the RCR. The RCR is a free, easy-to-use tool to assist members in practice improvement, local population management, and efficient, successful participation in national quality programs (including PQRI and e-Prescribing).
» Learn more about the RCR
