Use of the health plan employer data and information set for measuring and improving the quality of asthma care.

OBJECTIVES

To discuss the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) criteria for measuring performance in asthma care and to review new strategies to improve the quality of asthma care.

DATA SOURCES

Expert opinion from a roundtable on National Committee for Quality Assurance HEDIS and asthma care, supplemented with a MEDLINE database search to identify articles published between January 1, 1990, and May 31, 2005, with the following keywords in the title: asthma plus HEDIS, pay for performance, incentive programs, reimbursement, or employee education.

STUDY SELECTION

Studies and review articles were selected for their relevance to measuring the quality of asthma care using HEDIS and improving care using newer trends, such as employee education and physician incentive programs.

RESULTS

Components of the HEDIS asthma measure have been found to correlate with outcomes, including risk of hospitalization and emergency department visits. However, refinements to the measure may be needed because it may misclassify a portion of patients as having persistent asthma who actually have intermittent asthma according to National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute criteria. Physician incentive programs are increasingly being explored as a means of improving the quality of care while managing costs. Under current pay-for-performance programs, rewards are issued to providers who demonstrate high-quality care based on the HEDIS asthma measure.

CONCLUSIONS

The HEDIS asthma measure remains the most widely used performance tool for evaluating the quality of asthma care. Reimbursement models based on public reporting and pay for performance are expected to be a strong component of future health care payment systems.