Continuous Improvement and the Expansion of Quality ... - NCQA

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this measure has shown steady gains. Similar gains have transpired for Medicare HMos,
although they have not reached the same level overall.
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
N AT I o N A l C o M M I T T E E f o R Q U A l I T y A S S U R A N C E
fIgurE 4. trEnds In Hba1C sCrEEnIng for PEoPlE WItH
dIabEtEs for CoMMErCIal HMos, 1999–2010
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
HbA1c Screening for People With Diabetes, introduced with a suite of diabetes measures in
1999, is another example of growth. The screening rate has risen steadily over the past 11 years,
progressing from 75 percent in 1999 to almost 90 percent in 2010 for commercial HMos. We
have seen similar gains across HMos, PPos and product lines, with Medicare performing best.
Performance on Medical Attention for Nephropathy has more than doubled for commercial
HMos. from 36 percent in the first year, it rose to almost 84 percent in 2010. (The 2005
addition of ACE/ARb therapy to the measure’s qualifying criteria accounts for some of the
performance gain.) like the HbA1c screening measure, all plan types, in all product lines, have
experienced gains. Medicare HMos had the strongest performance of all groups (89.2 percent)
in 2010.