Accuracy of Medicare claims for identifying findings and procedures performed during colonoscopy.
BACKGROUND
Administrative claims data are frequently used for quality measurement.


OBJECTIVE
To examine the accuracy of administrative claims for potential colonoscopy quality measures, including findings (polyp or tumor detection), procedures (biopsy or polypectomy), and incomplete colonoscopy.


METHODS
Cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Patients age 65 and older undergoing colonoscopy in the Clinical Outcomes Research Initiative National Endoscopic Database in 2006. We linked colonoscopy records for these patients to Medicare colonoscopy claims by using patient age, sex, date of procedure, and performing provider's Unique Physician Identification Number.


METHODS
Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of the Medicare claims for potential quality measures, including colonoscopy findings and procedures.


RESULTS
We linked Medicare colonoscopy claims to 15,168 of the 30,011 Clinical Outcomes Research Initiative colonoscopy records. Sensitivity of the claims for colon polyps was 93.4%, with a specificity of 97.8%. Sensitivity of claims for other diagnoses, including colorectal tumors was suboptimal, although specificity was high. In contrast, sensitivity of claims for procedures-biopsy (with or without cautery) or polypectomy-was high (87.2%-97.6%), with specificity >97%. Claims had poor sensitivity for identification of incomplete colonoscopy.


CONCLUSIONS
Potential for inaccurate matching of colonoscopy records and Medicare claims.


CONCLUSIONS
Medicare claims have high sensitivity and specificity for polyp detection, biopsy, and polypectomy at colonoscopy, but sensitivity is low for other diagnoses such as tumor detection and for incomplete colonoscopy. Caution is needed when using Medicare claims data for certain important quality measures, in particular tumor detection and incomplete colonoscopy.
Department of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA. cwko@u.washington.edu
Cynthia W
CW
Ko
Jason A
JA
Dominitz
Pam
P
Green
William
W
Kreuter
Laura-Mae
LM
Baldwin
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001706:Biopsy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003111:Colonic Polyps / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000601:surgery; D003113:Colonoscopy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015179:Colorectal Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting / Q000592:standards*; D038801:International Classification of Diseases; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D014481:United States