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

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T H E S TAT E o f H E A l T H C A R E Q U A l I T y 2 0 1 1 • E x E C U T I V E S U M M A R y
fIgurE 5. trEnds In MEdICal attEntIon for nEPHroPatHy for
PEoPlE WItH dIabEtEs for CoMMErCIal HMos, 1999–2010
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
Health plans have shown steady increases on most consumer experience measures, which are based
on a rating scale of 0–10. of seven CAHPS indicators, six showed consistent, gradual improvement.
Health plans that report quality publicly and have earned NCQA Accreditation based on their
performance should be applauded for achieving these gains. Public and private purchasers,
including Medicare, have contributed to this effort by offering incentives for plans and providers
to report and improve quality.
Complementary policies can create even stronger improvement incentives. NCQA incorporates
HEDIS results into accreditation levels and health plan rankings. Differentiating among health
plans gives credit to the work of excellent performers—and signals the results to consumers and
purchasers.
Even stronger incentives can flow from pay-for-performance programs, which are used by many
Medicaid agencies and the Medicare Advantage (MA) program. Health plans with the best
performance on quality might win additional payments; Medicaid plans might be assigned more
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