Exact Sciences announced this week that Cologuard could be included in the 2017 Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) quality measures for colorectal cancer screening following a proposal from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).

According to the NCQA website, HEDIS is a tool used by more than 90 percent of America’s health plans to measure performance on important dimensions of care and service.

“Inclusion in the HEDIS quality measures is an important milestone toward Cologuard becoming a standard of care for colon cancer screening,” Exact Sciences Chairman and CEO Kevin Conroy said in a statement.  “Physicians, health systems and insurers would receive quality credit for using this patient-friendly screening option, which we believe will hasten its adoption.”

The 30-day public comment period for the proposal opened on Tuesday.