Arizona Tribune - NCQA Receives Grant from the Helmsley Charitable Trust to Advance High-Quality Diabetes Care

WASHINGTON, D.C. / ACCESS Newswire / May 14, 2026 / The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) is proud to announce new funding from The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust to strengthen clinician and health plan accountability for delivering high‑quality diabetes care. The three‑year initiative will advance quality of care for people living with type 1 and type 2 diabetes through developing new HEDIS®[1] diabetes measures, innovating approaches that capture clinical complexity and variation across patients and creating diabetes-focused NCQA programs to inform clinical management and establish clear accountability structures.

Diabetes remains one of the most prevalent and costly chronic conditions in the United States-it is the leading cause of end-stage renal disease, lower limb amputations and adult blindness, as well as the seventh leading cause of death.[2] Despite advances in glucose management technology and growing incorporation of behavioral health's role in diabetes care, outcomes remain uneven and too often fall short of clinical best practices.

"Too many people with diabetes are still not receiving care that reflects today's clinical knowledge or available technology," said Dr. Vivek Garg, President and CEO of NCQA. "I'm excited for NCQA to continue building on our partnership with Helmsley as we modernize how diabetes care quality is measured to better reflect real-world practice. With Helmsley's support, we're advancing an outcomes driven approach to diabetes care-one that aligns with current clinical standards, supports care teams and helps ensure patients receive the care they need to achieve better health."

This grant builds on a previous collaboration between NCQA and Helmsley to evolve NCQA's Diabetes Recognition Program (DRP), a clinician accountability mechanism that recognizes providers delivering high-quality diabetes care. With Helmsley's support, NCQA updated DRP measures to align with current clinical guidelines, modernized program infrastructure to allow for digital measure adoption and introduced new measures focused on depression screening and treatment, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) use and statin therapy.

The next phase of this work will examine the real-world barriers and facilitators clinical practices face in implementing these measures, which will inform the design and implementation of solutions that better reflect contemporary care delivery and support high-quality, evidence-based diabetes care delivery.

NCQA will translate these insights into action by advancing quality measurement-developing new measures focused on continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) for patients receiving insulin and by developing methods to personalize care based on an individual's risk of future morbidity or mortality.

"To deliver high-quality diabetes care that meets people where they are, we need measures that better reflect evolving clinical standards of care in diabetes management," said Laurel Koester, Program Officer in the Type 1 Diabetes Program at the Helmsley Charitable Trust. "We support NCQA because of their outstanding leadership advancing clear accountability structures to improve healthcare quality."

Together, NCQA and Helmsley expect this work to deliver meaningful benefits across the healthcare system, including:

• Development of new diabetes-focused quality measures.

• Expert advisory convenings to inform best practices and support broader healthcare system improvement.

• Public-facing, diabetes-focused reports and communications to support shared-learning, including how engagement with patient-facing digital solutions can support diabetes self-management.

• Tools and education to help primary care practices succeed in providing high quality type 1 and type 2 diabetes care, through NCQA's Diabetes Recognition Program, Advanced Primary Care and other quality programs.

Staff at Precision AQ are contributing their expertise and providing strategic counsel for this work.

About The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust

The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust aspires to improve lives by supporting exceptional efforts in the U.S. and around the world in health and select place-based initiatives. Since beginning active grantmaking in 2008, Helmsley has granted more than $4.6 billion for a wide range of charitable purposes. The Helmsley Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) Program is the largest private foundation funder in the world with a focus on T1D, with more than $1 billion to date committed to transform the trajectory of the disease and to accelerate access to 21st century care, everywhere. For more information on Helmsley and its programs, visit helmsleytrust.org.

About NCQA

NCQA is an independent nonprofit organization that defines and drives healthcare quality through accreditation, standards, performance measurement, and expert support. For more than 35 years, NCQA has advanced transparency, accountability, and enabled healthcare organizations to deliver better outcomes for patients. NCQA's Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) is one of healthcare's most widely used performance improvement tools. Learn more at ncqa.org. Follow NCQA on X @ncqa and on LinkedIn linkedin.com/company/ncqa.

About Precision AQ

Precision AQ offers an unparalleled team of experts experienced in supporting pharmaceutical and life science innovators in delivering improved access and health outcomes for patients. Precision AQ's team of quality and population health experts facilitate quality collaborations, supporting population health advancements, engagements, and strategies to build consensus and shape the future of value-based care. For more information, visit precisionaq.com.

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[1] HEDIS® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

[2] https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/leading-causes-of-death.htm

SOURCE: NCQA

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