As most of you know, the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®), is health care’s most widely used performance improvement tool. More than 90 percent of health plans use HEDIS to measure performance in areas of health care and service from overuse and appropriateness to chronic condition management.
It is a priority for NCQA to ensure that all measures used in our programs continue to be feasible and up to date, and that they capture important aspects of health care. Toward that end, we are asking for your feedback on measures that could be retired from HEDIS. Measures are considered for retirement because they no longer provide relevant information, may be topped out, are redundant with other measures—or for other reasons.
A Streamlined Approach
This summer, NCQA piloted a process to retire measures quickly from HEDIS. Through an accelerated process, we removed a measure from HEDIS, removed a product line and indicator from another measure, and retained a measure that stakeholders agreed was important to continue monitoring. {see previous blog for details} We also learned that stakeholders need earlier notice of HEDIS changes!
HEDIS Public Comment – Here’s How You Can Help!
Based on these lessons, for HEDIS 2019 we are asking for the public’s input on measures that could be nominated for retirement. From November 27–December 15, we invite stakeholders to prioritize measures for retirement from our suggestions and provide a rationale. NCQA will assess a limited set of nominated measures and post proposals for retirement during the HEDIS 2019 Public Comment period in February. This public comment period is an opportunity for health plans, purchasers, consumers and other stakeholders to weigh in. Thanks in advance for your input. We look forward to hearing from you!
Updating HEDIS – Looking for Public Comments on HEDIS Measures
Sepheen Byron