For those of you who don't know what HEDIS is, the acronym stands for Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set. In order to obtain accreditation from the National Committee for Quality Assurance, health plans must analyze their health care data to generate percentages related to the quality of care provided by the health care providers. The data is used to compare health plans and provide information about where health care can be improved, for the health plans specifically and for our nation in general.
An easy is example of a HEDIS measure is the percent of pregnant women who obtain the recommended number of prenatal visits before giving birth. This percent is part of the FPC measure (Frequency of Ongoing Prenatal Care). Another example is the percent of children who obtain the recommended vaccinations at specific times during their development. This comprises the CIS measure (Childhood Immunization Status). More complex measures, such as CDC or the set of RRU measures, measure the quality of care for diabetics or the cost of care for specific disorders across the health plan (respectively).
Toward the end of HEDIS, I invented a couple of new words related to the process:
- HEDISache - A headache brought on by working on HEDIS.
- THEDIS - Pronounced tuh-he-dis. Alternatively, THEDIouS, pronounced tuh-he-di-ous. - An adjective describing what it's like to review HEDIS data: tedious.
- HEDIlunch - Lunch with other people who worked on HEDIS, usually after successful completion.
Update: I noted the wrong pregnancy measure, PPC, instead of FPC. It is now correct.
