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NCQA Releases the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set for the 2020 and 2021 Measurement Years

NCQA & Upcoming HEDIS Changes

The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has released the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) manuals for 2020 and 2021 measurement years. HEDIS is considered the most widely used set of health care performance measures in the United States.

Naming Convention

A new naming convention will reduce confusion about the HEDIS measurement year and reporting year. Going forward, all HEDIS publication titles will refer to the HEDIS measurement year.

HEDIS Measurement Year (year) – shortened to HEDIS MY (year)

HEDIS MY 2020 includes 92 measures and HEDIS MY 2021 includes 91 measures

New Measures

New measures this year include

  • Cardiac Rehabilitation (CRE)
  • Kidney Health Evaluation for Patients with Diabetes (KED)
  • Osteoporosis Screening in Older Women (OSW)

Retired Measures

Retired measures for HEDIS MY 2020 and HEDIS MY 2021 include

  • Adult BMI Assessment (ABA)
  • Medication Management for People with Asthma (MMA)
  • Disease-Modifying Anti-Rheumatic Drug Therapy for Rheumatoid Arthritis (ART) (Retiring HEDIS MY 2021)
  • Medication Reconciliation Post-Discharge (MRP)
  • Osteoporosis Testing in Older Women (OTO)
  • Children and Adolescents’ Access to Primary Care Practitioners (CAP)
  • Board Certification (BCR)

Revised Measures

Revised measures beginning HEDIS MY 2020 include

  • Well-Child Visits in the First 15 Months of Life (W15) were revised to Well-Child Visits in the First 30 Months of Life (W30)
  • Well-Child Visits in the Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Years of Life (W34) and Adolescent Well-Care Visits (AWC) have been combined into Child and Adolescent Well-Care Visits (WCV)

Additional Resources

In addition to the specification manuals, NCQA provides a variety of resources to help organizations understand measure specifications, collect HEDIS data, and report results.

  • Organizations implementing HEDIS are strongly urged to join NCQA’s HEDIS Users Group (HUG) for technical assistance guidance on interpreting the specifications. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
  • Educational seminars provide valuable information on NCQA standards and the survey process. Course offerings range from a basic introduction to HEDIS and NCQA standard to advanced techniques for quality improvement. http://www.ncqa.org/professional-developement

 

Rhonda McElvany - RN, CRC, Quality Program Director

Silas Goldman - Senior Director of Operations This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.