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

M E A S U R E S T A R G E T E D A T C H I l D R E N A N D A D o l E S C E N T S
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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
WEll-CHIlD VISITS IN THE fIRST 15 MoNTHS of lIfE AND
IN THE THIRD, foURTH, fIfTH AND SIxTH yEARS of lIfE
The beginning years of childhood are filled with rapid growth and development. Well-child visits
offer doctors the opportunity to evaluate children’s physical, emotional and social developmental
progress. 1,2 The Well-Child Visits measures assess the number of children that met with a primary
care practitioner during their most important developmental milestones.
• Primary care practitioners may detect
health problems and developmental
delays early and initiate interventions that
eliminate problems or lessen their effect
over the long term. 1,2
• Well-child visits facilitate communication
between children, care providers and
doctors. 3 Primary care practitioners can
promote healthy behaviors and provide
anticipatory guidance on a variety of
topics, including injury prevention, physical
activity and nutrition. 4
the Case for Improvement
• The number of children younger than 6
who received well-child visits increased
from 84 percent in 2000 to 87 percent
in 2008, 1 but almost one million children
under 6 received no preventive medical
care of any kind in 2007. 5
• Children with incomplete well-child care
during the first six months of life are 60
percent more likely to visit the emergency
department than children with complete
well-child care. 6
• Development delays occur in approximately
13 percent of American children and have
high costs to society. 7,8 over the course
of a lifetime, untreated developmental
delays and disabilities are estimated to cost
between $417,000 in direct medical costs
and indirect lost productivity per child. 9
HEdIs Measure definition
Well-Child Visits in the First 15 Months of Life:
The percentage of children who turned 15
months old during the measurement year and
had the following number of well-child visits
with a primary care physician during the first
15 months of life:
• No well-child visits
• one well-child visit
• Two well child visits
• Three well-child visits
• four well-child visits
• five well-child visits
• Six or more well-child visits.