Quality of Care in Episodes of Common Respiratory Infections in a Disadvantaged Population,
Abstract
This study had four principal objectives: to develop valid rules for creating episodes of care from computerized claims data, to develop comprehensive age- and diagnosis-specific profiles of quality of care, to judge the quality of care for several respiratory infections, and to investigate differences in quality of care by characteristics of physicians. The respiratory illnesses studied were streptococcal sore throat, pharyngitis and/or tonsillitis, acute otitis media, acute bronchitis, influenza, and acute upper respiratory tract infection. Data were taken from the New Mexico Medicaid program on a cohort of persons who had been enrolled in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children aid category continuously for the years covered by the study. The cohort changed in no way except natural aging. It comprised primarily women and children, was predominantly white, and accounted for a large portion of New Mexico Medicaid expenditures during this period. Quality-of-care profiles were based on explicit process criteria and took into account both the presence and absence of appropriate and inappropriate elements of care. Included in the profiles were use of intramuscular (IM) and oral antimicrobials (antibiotics) singly and in numerous conditions, IM and oral medications typically used for symptomatic relief of these respiratory infections, a variety of laboratory and diagnostic tests, and followup visits.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1980
- Accession Number
- ADA103341
Entities
People
- Kathleen Nies Lohr
Organizations
- RAND Corporation