The National Committee for Quality Assurance has released new specifications for quality measurement for its 2017 edition of Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information, a performance improvement tool used by more than 90 percent of America's health plans.
The updated HEDIS measures include the addition of four new measures — including one on healthcare-associated infections — and changes to seven other measures.
Here are three things to know about the HEDIS update:
1. One of the new measures — the Standardized Healthcare-Associated Infection Ratio — is designed to gauge infection risk for patients admitted to network hospitals available on their health plan. The creation of this new measure marks the first time NCQA is using infection data collected by the CDC's National Healthcare Safety Network. This new safety measure provides infection ratios for four different HAIs, including central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter-associated urinary tract infections, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections and Clostridium difficile infections.
2. Two new measures assess the percentage of emergency department patients suffering from mental illness or drug addiction who return for follow-up visits within seven and 30 days of the initial ED admission. The fourth new measure assesses the percentage of patients who experience symptom remission five to seven months after reporting high levels of depression on the Patient Health Questionnaire.
3. Changes to existing measures include tracking harmful drug interactions in elderly patients, tracking discussions between patient and providers regarding fall risk management in adults over 65 and analyzing pneumococcal vaccination status for older adults. Prior to the recommendation for both males and females to receive the HPV vaccine, NCQA measured the rates of HPV vaccination among females separately. Now that rate will be assessed along with all recommended immunizations for adolescents across both sexes.
Find more information and access to the 2017 HEDIS here and here.
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