What's New This Week

May 5, 2008

Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement®

Eye care: percentage of patients aged 18 years and older with a diagnosis of cataracts who were assessed for visual functional status during one or more office visits within 12 months.

Eye care: percentage of patients aged 18 years and older with a diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy who had a dilated macular or fundus exam performed which included documentation of the level of severity of retinopathy AND the presence or absence of macular edema during one or more office visits within 12 months.

Eye care: percentage of patients aged 18 years and older with a diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy who had a dilated macular or fundus exam performed with documented communication to the physician who manages the on-going care of the patient with diabetes regarding the findings of the macular or fundus exam at least once within 12 months.

Eye care: percentage of patients aged 18 years and older with a diagnosis of primary open-angle glaucoma who have an optic nerve head evaluation during one or more office visits within 12 months.

Eye care: percentage of patients aged 50 years and older with a diagnosis of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) who had a dilated macular examination performed which included documentation of the presence or absence of macular thickening or hemorrhage, AND the level of macular degeneration severity during one or more office visits within 12 months.

Veterans Health Administration

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS): percent of patients hospitalized for ACS with cardiac symptoms prior to or on arrival to the acute setting who had an ECG performed 15 minutes prior to arrival in acute setting or within 10 minutes after arrival. This updates a previously published measure summary.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS): percent of patients hospitalized with ACS found to be high or moderate-high risk patients with cardiology involvement in care within 24 hours of acute arrival or if AMI as inpatient, within 24 hours of initial ECG or first positive troponin whichever is earlier. This updates a previously published measure summary.

Acute coronary syndrome (ACS): percent of patients with first troponin result returned within 60 minutes of order time. This updates a previously published measure summary.

Appropriate screening: percent of eligible patients screened annually for alcohol misuse with AUDIT-C. This updates a previously published measure summary.

Hypertension: percent of eligible patients with an active diagnosis of hypertension whose most recent blood pressure recording was less than 140/90 mm Hg. This updates a previously published measure summary.

Ischemic heart disease (IHD): percent of patients discharged with AMI, CABG, PTCA (inpatient or outpatient), or with ischemic vascular disease who have had a full lipid panel in the past year and LDL-C less than 100 on most recent test in past year. This updates a previously published measure summary.

Expert Commentary

• New Perspective: Wanted: Delivery System-Level Performance Measures By: Thomas H. Lee, MD

Coming Soon

• Updated National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) HEDIS 2008 measures. look for these measures in NQMC in the near future!

Conference News

• AHRQ's 2008 Annual Conference is September 7-10 in Bethesda, MD. Learn about AHRQ's latest research aimed at improving quality, safety, efficiency, and effectiveness of care from leading experts involved in AHRQ-sponsored research and implementation projects.
  • Sunday, September 7, 2008: NGC/NQMC Clearinghouse Day (by invitation only) -- Bringing together developer organizations participating in NGC and NQMC for the purposes of (1) exchanging information related to guideline and measure development, dissemination, implementation, and maintenance, (2) discussing ways to forge closer relationships between guidelines and measures to facilitate improved patient care, and (3) providing insight to AHRQ and its technical contractor for NGC and NQMC, ECRI Institute, on how to improve these resources.
• The 5th annual Guidelines International Network (G-I-N) conference, will be held October 1-3, 2008. Register online now. The theme of the conference is "Implementation in Practice." Special focus will be given to guideline implementation, collaboration in guideline production, evidence in guidelines, and guidelines and power. For further information and details about registration, please visit the G-I-N Conference Web site.

Health Awareness Topics - May 2008

• American Stroke Month (see related measures)
• Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month (see related measures)
• Healthy Vision Month (see related measures)
• Hepatitis Awareness Month (see related measures)
• Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month (see related measures)
• Mental Health Month (see related measures)
• National Arthritis Month (see related measures)
• National High Blood Pressure Education Month (see related measures)

How to Participate

• Submit measures: Visit our Submit Measures page for submission guidance and information about NQMC's submission process.
• Suggest a measure for possible inclusion: Submit your suggestions for evidence-based quality measures and measure sets that you would like to see included in NQMC and we will follow-up.

NQMC Sister Resources

Find Innovations and QualityTools classified by disease or clinical category, patient population, stage of care, setting of care, and more in AHRQ's Health Care Innovations Exchange Web site.

Look for evidence-based clinical practice guidelines in AHRQ's National Guideline Clearinghouse (NGC).

Other Resources

An archive of the weekly updates is also available. To locate a previous issue of "What's New This Week," go to the What's New Archive.

Questions and suggestions about the "What's New" feature are welcome. E-mail NQMC at info@qualitymeasures.ahrq.gov.

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