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Comment Period Open for HEDIS 2003
The Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set -- HEDIS, for short -- is a data set of standardized performance measures that allows consumers, employers and others to compare the quality of services provided by various managed care organizations. Ninety percent of the nation's health plans participate in HEDIS, which is maintained by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
NCQA has just released, and opened the comment period for, the latest proposed changes to HEDIS 2003. Many HABIT readers will no doubt be interested in seeing and commenting on the proposed changes -- especially the additions to the section used to evaluate the quality of medical assistance with smoking cessation.
Until now, the survey determined only whether patients who smoked were identified and offered advice to quit. The proposed revision also determines whether pharmacotherapy and counseling are offered to smokers.
Dr. Joachim Roski, vice-president of quality measurement at NCQA, notes that these additions reflect a growing appreciation of the cost effectiveness and efficacy of smoking cessation programs. Moreover, smoking cessation has been proven to have a major and immediate benefit in reducing risk of premature death.
HABIT urges all members of the research and clinical communities with expertise in tobacco cessation to take advantage of this opportunity to create evidence-based standards for health care. And please, don't delay: the deadline for written comments is March 28.
To view the proposed draft for HEDIS 2003 and submit your comments, go to www.ncqa.org.
And while we're on the topic of creating evidence-based medicine, the next article describes an opportunity to get involved on a much broader scale.
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