The American Academy of Family Physicians strongly supports efforts to implement the best evidence-based guidelines to improve health care, including the goal of minimizing National Quality Forum (NQF) Serious Reportable Events (SRE) and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) identified Hospital Acquired Conditions (HAC). Initiatives focusing on areas with a well-developed evidence base for prevention and amendable to standardization are more likely to successfully drive improvement.
Therefore, the AAFP supports performance improvement for all SREs and HACs, including a root cause analysis and implementation of robust systems to reduce these serious, largely preventable, and harmful clinical events. In addition, the AAFP recommends further research to delineate evidence-based practices that address such conditions in an actionable and scalable approach for both inpatient and ambulatory settings. (2010 COD) (October 2025 COD)