July 28, 2005
NCQA’s Quality Compass® Goes Online For 2005; Three-Year Trended Data Now Available
Web database allows “anywhere” access, streamlined data transfer feature
WASHINGTON — The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) today released its first-ever online version of Quality Compass®. Quality Compass 2005 has been expanded and updated to include several new features: users may now purchase up to three years of trended data and a new option streamlines the exporting of HEDIS® data into Excel spreadsheets. Quality Compass 2005 includes NCQA Accreditation and plan-specific HEDIS results on over 250 commercial health plans; data for Medicaid managed care plans will be available in the fall.
“Putting Quality Compass online will make the database easier to use and update. It’s a more valuable tool for selecting among plans,” said NCQA President Margaret E. O’Kane. “The availability of three years’ results makes identifying trends and conducting long-term quality analyses a simpler process.”
The transition to an online format means that users will have access to Quality Compass from any computer connected to the Internet. The use of a Web-based platform eliminates the need to download or install applications; additionally, updates to the database will appear in real time. The user interface for Quality Compass has also been re-engineered to make navigating the database and sorting HEDIS results a much simpler, more streamlined process. Users of the new edition will also notice the first-time addition of saved searches, which provides one-click access to their most frequently used database queries.
The updates, particularly the addition of trended HEDIS data to Quality Compass, were welcomed by key customers. "Quality Compass gives us a clear picture of how we and our competitors measure up in the marketplace," said Marion Anderson, Director, HEDIS Project, Clinical Systems Quality and Resource Management, Kaiser Permanente. "The addition of trended data helps us see our plan's performance over time. Quality Compass is an invaluable tool in helping us direct our quality improvement efforts."
Employers, health plans and others can use Quality Compass to directly compare a health plan’s HEDIS and CAHPS scores to other health plans and/or to national and regional benchmarks. An additional Data Exporter option allows users to export their search results to a Microsoft Excel® spreadsheet for further analysis. Plan-specific Medicaid results and member-level commercial CAHPS data will be released as separate Excel or SAS® data files.
The database forms the basis for NCQA’s annual State of Health Care Quality report. The 2005 State of Health Care Quality report will be released in early October.
Quality Compass 2005 and its optional electronic data files can be ordered online through NCQA’s Web site, www.ncqa.org, or by calling (888) 275-7585. For a demonstration of the new Quality Compass, visit NCQA’s Web site.
NCQA is a private, non-profit organization dedicated to improving health care quality. NCQA accredits and certifies a wide range of health care organizations, and recognizes physicians and physician groups in key clinical areas and manages the evolution of HEDIS®, the tool the nation’s health plans use to measure and report on their performance. NCQA is committed to providing health care quality information through the Web, media and data licensing agreements in order to help consumers, employers and others make more informed health care choices.
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“Quality Compass” and “HEDIS” are registered trademarks of the National Committee for Quality Assurance. All rights reserved.
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