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Please send items you would like to have included in future issues of NCC News to: cjohnson@prevent.org. |
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Dear Colleague,
Welcome to a special issue of NCC News. This issue of the newsletter contains important opportunities for you to support the inclusion of chlamydia screening as a priority within healthcare delivery systems. We encourage you to submit comments, which can be brief, and can be done by an individual or on behalf of an organization. |
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Core Set of Child Healthcare Quality Measures for Medicaid and CHIP |
When Congress re-authorized the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) in 2009, it required the development of a set of indicators that Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs can use to measure quality of healthcare services for children and adolescents. Public comments are now invited on those indicators. Using a broad and inclusive process, a set of 25 measures was developed that are judged to be both valid and feasible. The indicators address the full range of services for children including preventive care, treatments, and services for acute and chronic conditions from prenatal care through adolescence. The indicators also address both risk assessment and treatment for the full range of developmental, physical, and mental health conditions. More information can be found here.
Chlamydia screening for females is included as one of the recommended quality indicators. Please take a few minutes to register your support of the inclusion of the chlamydia screening indicator in the Set of Child Healthcare Indicators for Medicaid and CHIP. Comments are to be 250 words or less. Feel free to adapt the sample language below.
RE: Support for chlamydia screening indicator
The health benefits of chlamydia screening are well documented, with screening and treatment estimated to prevent as many as 30,000 cases of pelvic inflammatory disease each year if 90 percent of eligible young women were screened routinely, according to the National Commission on Prevention Priorities (NCPP). Chlamydia screening is one of the few clinical preventive services recommended for adolescents by the USPSTF. The Task Force reviewed 24 non-immunization services for adolescents 11 to 17 years of age. Of these, only five were given A or B grades and all five involved sexual health, including screening for sexually transmitted infections and cervical cancer (Pap smear). (Am J Prev Med 2009;37(5)) Screening rates remain low. Normalizing chlamydia screening as part of routine care can help reduce some of the barriers to preventive care for adolescents.
Comments Due: March 1, 2010 no later than 5:OO p.m.
Submit comment to: CHIPRAqualitymeasures@ahrq.hhs.gov
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Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program
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There is an opportunity to comment on proposed rules for the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program for Medicare and Medicaid Programs. Beginning in June 2011, this program will provide incentive payments to eligible health professionals who participate in Medicaid or Medicare programs for using electronic health records (EHR). This will include the healthcare professionals who deliver chlamydia screening and treatment services in Medicaid programs. It is expected that the standards set by these large, national programs will likely influence the content and nature of electronic health records in other delivery systems, so this represents an important opportunity to submit comments supporting the inclusion of chlamydia screening and supporting recording patients' sexual activity status in electronic health records.
Two areas in the proposed rules stand out for comments regarding chlamydia screening:
- In the section that addresses "Health Outcomes Policy Priority: Improving quality, safety, efficiency, and reducing health disparities." (See Table 2-Stage 1 Criteria for Meaningful Use,Federal Register page 1868)
This section deals with records that eligible professionals will maintain for each patient and includes a variety of clinical issues, such as maintaining records of allergies and medication lists, sending reminders for preventive and follow up care, and recording BMI and smoking status. The proposed rules do NOT include recording the sexual activity status of patients age 13 years and older. Including sexual activity status in EHRs would trigger decision support tools for STD screening, prevention, and follow-up care.
- In the section that addresses Clinical Quality Measures for Eligible Professionals, chlamydia is included for some eligible healthcare professionals, but not all. Comments should support including chlamydia screening for all appropriate specialists.
Table 3, Measure Number NQF 033, Chlamydia Screening in Women: (See Federal Register, page 1886), The only core speciality measure group included is obstetrics and gynecology.
Table 12, Measure Group: Obstetrics and Gynecology (See Federal Register, page 1893), This section includes screening for cervical cancer and chlamydia among the quality measures for obstetricians and gynecologists. Tables 10 and 11, Measure Group: Primary Care and Measure Group: Pediatrics, respectively (See Federal Register, pages 1892-93), The sections of quality measures for primary care and pediatrics do NOT include chlamydia screening.
Comments can urge including chlamydia screening as a specialty measure for pediatricians and primary care providers.
Comments due: March 15, 2010
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State Adolescent Health Coordinators Accepting Input on Performance Measures
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Almost every state has a State Adolescent Health Coordinator (SAHC) position, which is supported by the Maternal and Child Health block grant. Every five years the SAHCs develop a set of priority needs and performance measures. The next five-year cycle begins this year.
Individuals, including healthcare providers and organizations should contact the SAHC in their state to ensure that chlamydia screening and treatment is included as a priority in the 2010 block grant renewal. You can contact your SAHC by finding your state on this document. It is important to reach out to your SAHC as soon as possible, ideally within the next month, as each state has different deadlines for submitting their funding applications. |
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