Press Release Date: December 6, 1996
Health plans, providers and consumers across the United States
are the intended beneficiaries of
10 new studies announced today by the federal Agency for Health
Care Policy and Research
(AHCPR). The studies will help to provide science-based
information needed by the public and
private sectors to develop tools and information that will lead
to improvements in health care
quality.
According to Clifton R. Gaus, Sc.D., AHCPR administrator,
objective, research-based quality-of-care measures are essential
for improving services, balancing costs and quality, and knowing
where costs can be reduced without jeopardizing patients' health.
"These studies will benefit consumers in two ways. First,
improved quality of care translates into
better outcomes; second, it will give consumers objective
information on performance—not just
differences in prices—on which to base their decisions when
choosing a health plan or
individual treatment facility," said Dr. Gaus.
AHCPR has awarded approximately $13.52 million over five years to
fund seven new studies
that are collectively known as Q-SPAN (Expanding Quality of Care
Measures). These new
studies are:
Clinical Performance Measures for Dental Care Plans.(Grant No.: HS09453)
Principal investigator: James D. Bader, D.D.S., University of
North Carolina, Chapel
Hill, N.C. 1996-1998. Total estimated funding: $374,014.
Will develop a set of outcome-based performance
measures for general dentistry, with a
special focus on cavities, which, together with gum diseases,
account for most dental
claims. The researchers will validate, pilot test, and implement
the measures in two large
dental managed care plans.
Ongoing Development and Evaluation of HEDIS
Measures. (Grant No.: HS09473)
Principal investigator: Arnold M. Epstein, M.D., Harvard
University, Boston, Mass. 1996-1999. Total estimated funding:
$2.31 million.
Will evaluate the recently published draft
version of the
Health Plan Employer Data and
Information Set (HEDIS 3.0)—currently the most widely used
measures of health plan
performance—and develop operational specifications for
measures that the National
Committee for Quality Assurance may include in the next version
of HEDIS.
Measuring Quality by Achievable Benchmarks of Care. (Grant No.: HS09446)
Principal investigator: Catarina I. Kiefe, M.D., Ph.D.,
University of Alabama,
Birmingham, Ala. 1996-2001. Total estimated funding: $1.77
million.
Will refine and test the feasibility of using
Achievable
Benchmarks of Care—derived
from pooled data of the best health care performers—because
consistent data-driven
definitions of benchmark performance are not currently available.
The goals are to
increase providers' ability to transition from quality
measurement to actual changes in
clinical practice, and to improve methodology for deriving
quality measures from readily
available data.
Adult Global Quality Assessment Tool. (Grant No.:
HS09463) Principal investigator:
Elizabeth A. McGlynn, Ph.D., RAND Corporation, Santa Monica,
Calif. 1996-1999.
Total estimated funding: $1.43 million.
Develops and tests clinically based sets of
measures for assessing quality of care
delivered to men under age 50, and men and women ages 50 and
older, who are enrolled
in managed care plans. This AHCPR project complements another
study by the
investigators—funded by the Health Care Financing
Administration—to develop
managed care measures sets for use in evaluating quality of care
provided to pre-menopausal women, children and adolescents.
Quality of Care Measures for Cardiovascular
Patients. (Grant No.: HS09487)
Principal investigator: Barbara J. McNeil, M.D., Ph.D., Harvard
University, Boston,
Mass. 1996-2001. Total estimated funding: $4.16 million.
Develops and tests a set of clinical measures
for cardiovascular care performance from
data collected from four health plans that enroll a broad
spectrum of patient types. The
researchers will focus on developing measures for a group of
interrelated cardiovascular
conditions.
Quality Outcomes in Subacute and Home Care Programs. (Grant No.: HSO9455)
Principal investigator: John N. Morris, Ph.D., Hebrew
Rehabilitation Center for the
Aged, Boston, Mass. 1996-1999. Total estimated funding: $1
million.
Measures quality of care in two increasingly
important, but little studied transitional
settings for rehabilitative-restorative care following acute
hospital discharge: nursing
home subacute care and home care. The researchers will create,
validate and set
benchmark values of longitudinal change for activities of daily
living, mobility,
cognition, communication and other outcomes.
Functional Outcomes in Patients with Hip Fractures. (Grant No.: HS09459)
Principal investigator: Albert L. Siu, M.D., Mount Sinai School
of Medicine, New York,
N.Y. 1996-2001. Total estimated funding: $2.47 million.
Addresses hip fracture care management and
outcomes by developing a workable quality
measurement system providers can use to assess the quality of
care they provide patients
with hip fracture—an increasingly prevalent and costly
health problem.
Upon their availability, AHCPR may include quality of care
measures produced by the studies in
AHCPR's landmark Computerized Needs-Oriented Quality Measurement
Evaluation System
(CONQUEST) or in CONQUEST's eventual successor, the Quality
Measurement Network
(QMNet).
In addition, AHCPR has awarded approximately $3.23 million to
fund three other studies on
health care quality. These studies are:
Value of Future Health and Preventive Health
Behavior. (Grant No.: HS09519)
Principal investigator: Gretchen B. Chapman, Ph.D., Rutgers State
University of New
Jersey, New Brunswick, N.J. 1996-1997. Total estimated funding:
$194,913.
Focuses on the effect of time preferences (how
people value their health status at
different stages in life plus the value they give to possible
future personal health
problems) on why people do or do not adopt preventive health
behaviors.
Office Systems to Improve Preventive Care for
Children. (Grant No.: HS08509)
Principal investigator: Peter Margolis, M.D., Ph.D., University
of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill, N.C. 1996-2000. Total estimated funding: $1.49
million.
Determines whether pediatric practices that use
office systems for prevention have higher
rates of immunizations and screening for anemia, tuberculosis and
lead, and if rates vary
in relation to the number of system components used.
Development of a Child Health Status Measure. (Grant
No.: HS08829) Principal
investigator: Barbara Starfield, M.D., Johns Hopkins University,
Baltimore, Md. 1996-2000. Total estimated funding: $1.55 million.
Develops an instrument that comprehensively
measures the health and illness profile of
children ages five to 11. The instrument is intended to be used
to monitor the influence
on children of changes in health system organization and
interventions in health services.
Both parent and child versions of the instrument will be
developed and systematically
tested in geographically distinct populations with different
racial and ethnic backgrounds.
Earlier in 1996, AHCPR funded the five following studies focusing
on quality of care issues: Frank Ahern, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State
University, "Impact of Prospective Drug Use on Health"; A.
Connors, Jr., M.D., Case Western Reserve, "Right Heart
Catheterization: Appropriate/Effective Use"; Jose Escarce, M.D.,
University of Pennsylvania, "Superspecialization of Medical and
Surgical Subspecialists"; Thomas Lee, M.D., Brigham and Women's
Hospital, "Cardiac Procedure Use: A Prospective Cohort Study";
and Joel Tsevat, M.D., University of Cincinnati Medical Center,
"Understanding Health Values of HIV Infected Patients."
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research, a part of the
Department of Health and Human Services, is the lead agency
charged with supporting research designed to improve the quality
of health care, reduce its cost and enhance access to essential
services. AHCPR's broad programs of research and technology
assessment bring practical, science-based information to medical
practitioners and to consumers and other health care
purchasers.
For additional information, contact AHCPR Public Affairs: Howard Holland, (301) 427-1857, Salina Prasad, (301) 427-1864.
Internet Citation:
New Studies Focus on Improving Quality of Care. Press Release, December 6, 1996. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/qocfocus.htm
540 Gaither Road Rockville, MD 20850