Medicaid Quality Indicators
for Individuals with Disabilities
ILRU is working with the National Rehabilitation Hospital’s
Center for Health & Disability Research and the Delmarva Foundation
to recruit Medicaid users who have disabilities to provide researchers
with real-life assessments of the Medicaid program’s effectiveness
in meeting the health care needs of people with disabilities. Below
is an overview of the research project, which is funded by the National
Institute for Disability and Rehabilitation Research.
Purpose: To develop and validate health system quality indicators
for people with disabilities.
Target population to be served: People with disabilities enrolled
in managed Medicaid programs.
Goals and aims: Our goal is to develop and field-test
quality measures for people with disabilities in managed care organizations.
Our specific aims are:
1. Case identification: Improve our computer algorithm
for Medicaid plans to identify beneficiaries who have disabilities.
(NIDRR Priority 1, Topic 3B);
2. Plan-reported indicators: Select a subset of existing
HEDIS® Medicaid measures that are appropriate and statistically
meaningful for indicating the quality of care for the people identified
in Aim #1 (NIDRR Priority 1, Topic 3A);
3. Consumer-reported indicators: Assess the content
validity of the Axis-CAHPS® survey, refine it, and conduct item
response scaling by different subpopulations of people identified
in Aim #1 (NIDRR Priority 1, Topic 3A); and
4. Develop comparative reporting tools of the quality
of care between and within health plans (NIDRR Priority 1, Topic
3C).
Innovative strategies: This is a combined qualitative
and quantitative study with three interrelated segments.
(1) We will extend our previous research on using
routine health claims data to identify beneficiaries who are at
risk of needing modified help to access their Medicaid benefits
and services.
(2) We will review and refine the two most widely
used Medicaid quality indicator tools, CAHPS® and HEDIS®.
We will also extend our work on refining the CAHPS® instrument
for people with physical disabilities.
(3) We will explore how people with disabilities,
payers, and providers can use the indicators to improve practice
and report outcomes using comparative reporting tools.
Four attributes distinguish this disability rehabilitation research
program. This program is:
Focused. By concentrating a limited budget on a specific delivery
system (Medicaid managed care), we will gain the depth of knowledge
that is missing from a broad-based, national inventory approach.
Relevant. We
are moving beyond the question of need, to action.
Timely. Within
5 years, we will identify, test, and prove methods to measure important
dimension of quality for an estimated 248,000 people with disabilities
(90,000 in managed care organizations) in Maryland and the District
of Columbia.
Realistic. Our strategy
is to refine existing tools that are widely used by Medicare, Medicaid
and commercial payers. We are not trying to invent expensive new
methods that will have a low likelihood of being adopted.
Project outcomes:
Revised HEDIS®, CAHPS®, and Comparative Reporting
Tools relevant to people with disabilities and their health care
providers.
Dissemination: Rapid dissemination
of the findings and adoption of the quality indicators and reporting
tools will be enhanced through this strategic research collaboration
between the NRH Center for Health & Disability Research, the
Delmarva Foundation and government programs.
# # #
QUALITY INDICATORS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
ON MEDICAID
Do you have a disability?
Do you have Medicaid?
Are you age 15 or over?
Would you like to create a Medicaid report card for
people with disabilities?
If you can answer “yes” to these three
questions, we want your opinions and ideas!
Researchers from the National Rehabilitation Hospital,
Center for Health & Disability Research want to learn how you
think “quality” should be measured.
Please join us for a 90-minute discussion of what
is important to you.
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An American Sign Language interpreter will be available as needed.
All information will be available in Braille.
Participants will receive $20 and transportation assistance.
Dates: October 19 (Sunday) @ 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
October 20 (Monday) @ 3 p.m.
Location: ILRU Office
2323 S. Shepherd, Suite 1000
(between Westheimer & San Felipe; the only tall building in
area--white with lattice-style trim; on east side of street)
713.520.0232 (V); 713.520.5136 (TTY)
Contact:
Laurel Richards
Direct line: 713.680.0462
ILRU Office: 713.520.0232 (V); 713.520.5136 (TTY)
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