(NCQA: Washington) -- Expanding health insurance coverage is a critical step in health reform, but reforms won’t be successful if they fail to address the quality and cost of care. That’s the conclusion of The Quality Crossroads Group, a broad group of stakeholders drawn together to identify strategies to address the complex challenges confronting the U.S. health care system. The group lays out a five-point agenda in an article published recently in Health Affairs that serves as a vision for quality in an election year when patient safety, the plight of the uninsured, and rising costs are making front-page news.

“Quality improvement is intricately connected with containing costs and expanding coverage. Yet too often, quality is left out of the equation,” says co-author Margaret E. O’Kane, president of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. “Poor-quality care is a major contributor to runaway health care costs. Improving quality is a key part of making coverage affordable.” 


“The future of health care reform rests on the ability for diverse groups, at national, state, and community levels, to work to achieve consensus. We cannot achieve the important policy goals outlined in this paper without collaboration,” says co-author Janet Corrigan, president and CEO of the National Quality Forum.

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