Measure Development Process

NEMSQA uses a standardized approach to measure development and adoption, and the process map provides details into our approach.

NEMSQA takes a lifecycle approach in developing and maintaining measures. This approach ensures that as each measure developed by NEMSQA, it is thoroughly researched, specified, and tested, including a public comment period, before it is deployed into the EMS world for use. The lifecycle also ensures that the development process for a measure is never complete, as measures are everchanging entities and they must be regularly maintained by going through the rigor of the lifecycle on a regular, predetermined basis.  The current 11 NEMSQA measures were reviewed and re-specified from their original release in the EMS Compass program using NEMSQA’s Measure Development Process.  

The current NEMSQA Measure Development and Adoption Process was approved by the Board of Trustees on February 28, 2019, however, it is a living document to be updated as required to improve this process. As the Measure Development Committee works through this process to develop new measures and identify and adopt existing measures owned and stewarded by other organizations, this process will be updated so that it is more efficient and lends itself to the development and adoption of measures that are of increasing value to the EMS community.

Since adopting the Measure Development Process and releasing its first measure set, NEMSQA has received many questions about the process, how it relates to NQF, and the annual maintenance periods. Please see the Frequently Asked Questions document for more information.