Phyllis Torda, 63, who had spent the past 20 years as an executive with the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), a nonprofit organization focused on health care, died Feb. 16 at her home in Washington. The cause was metastatic breast cancer, said a brother, Roger Torda.

Ms. Torda, a Los Angeles native, was a past director of health and social policy at Families USA, a group where she directed research and consumer advocacy on health and long-term care reform, Medicare, Medicaid and income security. At NCQA, she designed a patient-centered medical home program — a method to coordinate patient care — that was the model for many others nationally, her family said.

— From staff reports

She left behind two sons and a husband.