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
ADolESCENT WEll-CARE VISITS
Adolescence is a time marked by transition. As children become adults, they face new physical,
emotional and social challenges that may affect their health. 1 because of changing patterns
of illness and death among youth over the last two decades, increased screening and health
counseling have become especially important. 2,3 The Adolescent Well-Care Visits measure
assesses the number of adolescents who received preventive care.
• Risk taking behaviors, such as substance
use, drunk driving, risky sexual activity and
smoking, often begin in adolescence. These
behaviors put youth at increased risk for
sexually transmitted diseases, unintended
pregnancy, injury or death. 2,3 In 2009,
almost 20 percent of high school students
smoked tobacco. More than 6 percent used
cocaine and 24 percent reported binge
drinking (i.e., had five or more alcoholic
drinks within a couple of hours). 4
• Many chronic diseases seen in adults begin
in childhood, when eating habits and
physical activity levels are often established. 3
With obesity among adolescents in the
U.S. on the rise, this is especially troubling.
obesity can lead to type 2 diabetes, heart
disease and certain cancers. 5
• Adolescent well-care visits are an
effective way for doctors to present health
promotion advice that is timely and
relevant to adolescents’ development and
well-being. The average preventive visit
lasts about 20 minutes; during this time,
doctors can provide counseling or initiate
health interventions. 6
the Case for Improvement
• Adolescents are the least likely to have
access to health care, and use less primary
care, than any age group. 3 The proportion
of children who receive well-care visits
declines with age. only 70 percent of
10–14-year-olds and 67 percent of
15–17-year-olds received preventive health
care in 2008. 2 for those who did have a
well-child visit, only 10 percent received all
recommended preventive services. 7
• In 2007, nearly 13,299 deaths from
unintentional injury (such as from a car
accident) were reported among adolescents
between the ages of 15 and 19. 8 The total
lifetime medical costs for adolescents who
survive is estimated to be $25 billion. 9