Following the news that the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) had announced the appointment of Sarah Saxton as Senior Vice President of Quality Services, looking to leverage her more than 20 years of healthcare consulting, performance optimization and portfolio management experience, we caught up with Sarah to learn more about NCQA, its dedication to improving quality across the healthcare continuum, and the opportunity for industry to partner with this non-profit focused on improving healthcare quality, advancing digital measurement, data quality and EHRM implementation.
The NCQA You Didn’t Know
While in the government contracting space, NCQA is not often viewed as a traditional contractor. As an independent non-profit, it does a host of things that can be considered conventional contractor capabilities. “Our primary mission is to improve the quality of healthcare in America and we have been at the vanguard of that fight for the last 35 years.”
“So many of us in government contracting care about the mission but end up in companies that may be more focused on the profit side. NCQA takes that and reverses it, and they really put their money where their mouth is. I’m energised by that. We are also seeing this really resonate with government partners we have been engaging with.”
NCQA’s core heritage is rooted in HEDIS ® measures. However, as agencies like VA, CMS and others continue implementing and expanding EHRM systems—where the right information needs to be captured, tracked, and more importantly, improved over time —there’s an opportunity for NCQA to leverage its expertise to support better results.
“A unique differentiator is that we also have work at the state level and in the private sector, so we have a holistic perspective on healthcare quality and we can bring those best practises and insights into the public sector and vice versa.”
Supporting Healthcare Quality Data Across the Continuum
Understanding the importance of data, the analytics and the story the data reveals, NCQA is investing resources and assigning a new kind of prioritisation to helping end users really make a difference in their individualized quality improvement initiatives. “To me, that’s where the magic comes from. While data shines a flashlight on where the needs are, the real value comes from doing something about it. NCQA investing in technical implementation capabilities is very exciting for us.”
Leaning on people as the foundation of its success, NCQA is also embracing the promise of AI, not to drive up costs through new technology, but as a way of increasing the quality of data and the intel that can be derived from it to help identify opportunities for improvement that will lower costs.
Inherent Trust in Non-Profits
With trust in public institutions declining over the past several years, trust in non-profits remains strong. “We’re seeing more and more clients and prospective clients, thought leaders and teaming partners who value the role of an independent non-profit—especially in a space where trust can be so fragile.. That independence offers a sense of credibility and stability in a way that for-profit organisations simply don’t have these days.”
NCQA looks to partners who share its values of client delivery and innovation, of being good stewards of taxpayer dollars, and investing in the mission over shareholder value. Organisations involved, or looking to be involved, in EHRM implementation have an immediate opportunity. “For those involved in these projects, we want to be at the table to ensure the code is wired to gather the correct quality data. The earlier we have the conversation, before requirements are developed, the better. Where we can have significant impact is in helping to shape requirements to collect data that can withstand congressional scrutiny because they’re grounded in methodological integrity and gold standards in healthcare quality.”
A Mission-Enriched Culture
As you might expect with a non-profit, the people who make up the organization are there out of a shared sense of purpose. “Leadership meetings focus discussions on meaningful topics such as the implications of the latest quality standards and what they mean for our team, our clients, and patients, rather than being solely about profits.”
“With our expertise, but also a team that is so well-rounded and brings perspective from so many different areas, we have not only an opportunity, but a responsibility, to bring trust back to the healthcare system.”
Annual Quality Conference
Another factor that makes NCQA stand out is its flagship conference that brings together health care leaders, innovators, and quality improvement professionals with a focus on advancing health care quality through collaboration, education, and cutting-edge insights.
The event draws more than 1,000 people annually, by convening stakeholder groups from across the healthcare ecosystem, including health plans, state and federal policy makers (including from CMS), roviders, foundations, to share success stories and give attendees actionable insight into replicating these successes.
You can subscribe to find out more about this year’s event here.
About Sarah Saxton
Sarah brings over 20 years of experience advancing quality, performance measurement, and large-scale transformation across public and private health systems. In this new role, she will lead NCQA’s Quality Solutions Group, driving research and implementation efforts that underpin NCQA’s evidence-based standards and performance measures. Saxton will also work on deepening collaboration with federal agencies to advance initiatives that deliver improvements in health systems and patient outcomes.
Prior to joining NCQA, Saxton served as Senior Vice President of Federal Market Strategy at Aptive Resources, where she led enterprise growth and innovation across federal health agencies.
