The data sources hospitals and providers use to report quality of care can have a significant impact on their performance scores, as one study published in Medical Care reveals. In an analysis of quality indicators used by health plans for accreditation, reimbursement, and report card scores, the study found that, of the 182 quality indicators that measure care for vulnerable elderly patients, 80% are available only in medical records--even though administration data are typically used to report performance. Performance scores differed substantially when using data from administrative sources versus medical records. Based on quality indicators gleaned from medical records, overall performance was 55%. But for quality indicators applicable only to administrative data, the performance score was 83%. Performance scores were virtually identical, however, when quality indicators applicable to both medical records and administrative data were measured.
