title: Quality process measures for rheumatoid arthritis: performance from members enrolled in a national health plan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Health care quality problems are reflected in the underuse, overuse, and misuse of health care services. There is evidence suggesting that the quality of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patient care is suboptimal, which has spurred the development of a number of systematic quality improvement metrics.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To investigate a quality process measurement set in a sample of commercially insured RA patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Medical, pharmacy, and laboratory claims for members with an RA diagnosis (ICD-9-CM 714.x) during calendar years 2008 through 2012 were extracted from the Optum Clinformatics Data Mart database. Eight process quality measures focused on RA patient response and tolerance to therapy were examined in the claims database. Measures were calculated for individual calendar years from 2009 to 2012, inclusive.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of adult RA patients received at least 1 prescription for a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) across the 4 measurement years: range = 78.5%-81.6%. Erythrocyte sedimentation rate and C-reactive protein testing were also evident in the majority of the sample, with 67.1%-72.2% of newly diagnosed RA patients receiving baseline testing, and 56.0%-58.7% of existing RA patients receiving annual testing. Among methotrexate users, liver function tests were performed in 74.5%-75.7% of treated patients, serum creatinine tests in 70.1%-72.6% of patients, and complete blood count tests in 74.5%-76.0% of patients. Additionally, most patients initiating a new DMARD had a claim for a baseline serum creatinine test (68.0%-70.3%) and baseline liver function test (69.3%-71.0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings suggest that a majority of RA patients are attaining patient quality process measures, although a considerable proportion of patients (approximately 25%) may be receiving suboptimal care. Further studies are warranted to understand whether attainment of these measures translates into better outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Health Analytics, 9200 Rumsey Rd., Ste. 215, Columbia, MD 21045. joseph.tkacz@healthanalytic.com.
authors.forename: Joseph
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tkacz
authors.forename: Lorie A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: Roxanne
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Meyer
authors.forename: Susan C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Bolge
authors.forename: Brenna L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Brady
authors.forename: Charles
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ruetsch
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000188:drug therapy*; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008727:Methotrexate / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008875:Middle Aged; D017064:Process Assessment, Health Care; D011787:Quality of Health Care
chemical_list: D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D008727:Methotrexate