American Gastroenterological Association - Advancing the Science and Practice of Gastroenterology

Practice & Quality Management Committee

Mission

To further the Strategic Plan by meeting the needs of members who provide care to patients with respect to the development of clinical practice guidelines, quality measurement and improvement tools, patient outcomes, patient education materials, and other issues that affect the provision of care to patients with digestive diseases.

The specific charge to this committee is to be concerned with (1) developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines; policy statements; consensus statements, etc., for gastroenterologists and primary care physicians with respect to the management and treatment of patients with various digestive diseases and conditions; (2) developing priorities, standards and processes for development of standards of practice (development of which shall be the responsibility of the AGA Council); (3) Overseeing and providing guidance to the Center for Quality in Practice and the Center for GI Practice Management and Economics on all related programs, products and tools related to the provision of quality and clinical practice; (4) providing recommendations to the Governing Board on issues related to patient care, quality and safety; (5) monitoring trends in gastroenterology clinical practice; and (6) other matters that affect the delivery of care to patients with digestive diseases.

Committee Structure

The committee consists of no more than 10 members, plus the chair, all selected to include a majority of representation from private and academic practice. Members should have expertise in the development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines and “best practices” into practice, the application of evidence-based medicine principles, quality measurement and patient assessment tools, and familiarity with concepts related to practice management. One member should be a non-physician physician assistant (PA), serving as a non-voting member. The chair of the Practice Management and Economics Committee shall be an ex-officio member of this committee. The Clinical Research Councillor (who shall not count against the maximum membership) shall serve as the AGA Governing Board’s liaison to the committee and shall serve as a non-voting ex-officio member.

Appointment terms of the chair and all committee members shall be three years, with one-third expiring annually. A chair-elect (who shall not count against the maximum membership) shall be appointed one year before the end of the term of the chair.

Committee Chair Qualifications

A physician who:

• Has extensive knowledge and experience in the management of a clinical practice, ideally in both academic and private practice settings.
• Understands medical practice guideline concepts and issues (e.g. principles of evidence-based medicine)
• Understands the concepts regarding quality measurement and improvement.
• Understands the present state of outcomes studies.
• Has previously served on an AGA Institute committee, task force or Clinical Practice Section activities.

Committee Functions

• Implement relevant strategic directions from the strategic plan assigned to the committee and review the strategic plan to determine new and better ways to achieve association goals per governing board policy.
• Provide input on strategic trends and opportunities and suggests adjustments to the strategic plan for the chair to communicate to the leadership cabinet.
• Implement and monitor a standard process for development of practice guidelines/standards of practice and topics and set priorities for their development.
• Provide information and resources to members to enable them to incorporate the best evidenced-based medicine into practice.
• Provide oversight and guidance to the Center for Quality in Practice.
• Develop subcommittees/working groups with members of the Clinical Practice and Quality Management Committee and the Practice Management and Economics Committee, and other physicians as appropriate, to coordinate on issues that overlap (e.g. imaging initiatives and sedation) and develop concurrent strategies on the issues.
• Track trends in health-care delivery that will impact gastroenterology practice (e.g. new technologies, practice patterns and diagnosis, management and treatment options).
• Analyze and report on topics related to the daily practice of gastroenterology, hepatology, and endoscopy in the office, hospital, AEC or university settings with a focus on quality measurement
• Provide guidance to the Center for GI Practice Management and Economics to develop tools and resources to enable members to incorporate quality measurement into the business infrastructure of their practices, and package and report these metrics to internal and external stakeholders
• Interface with the National Quality Forum (NQF), AQA Alliance, regional quality initiatives, employer-based quality initiatives and other agencies on topics important to members.
• Other functions as assigned by the governing board. 

Responsibilities of the Committee Chair:

• Provides leadership and oversight of committee activities.
• Convenes and directs meetings and conference calls of the committee; assigns members to ad hoc or standing sub-committees as needed.
• Serves as liaison to the AGA Institute Leadership Cabinet and Health Policy and Reimbursement Committee.
• Participates in an annual planning meeting with the chairs of the Practice Management and Economics Committee and the Public Affairs and Advocacy Committee.
• Works with staff to ensure that committee projects and activities are carried out in a timely and appropriate manner.
• Works with staff to prepare meeting agendas, minutes and reports.
• Evaluates the performance of committee members. 

Meetings

The committee will have two face-to-face meetings per year and hold teleconferences as necessary.

Members