HEDIS administrative data to track chlamydial screening for teens: Are we measuring what we think we are?

Abstract

Chlamydia trachomatis (CT) screening of sexually active girls (15–25) is a performance standard in the Health Plan Employer Data Information Set (HEDIS) as part of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) to monitor the quality of care in managed care organizations. There has only been one published study to date examining the validity of the HEDIS measure to identify sexually active females. However, this study did not specifically report on the teen data. Because of the lack of data and concern about the HEDIS measure for teens (e.g., oral contraceptive prescription use for acne & reproductive counseling as a preventive service), we compared two different methods for calculating CT Screening rates among sexually active adolescent females: HEDIS specifications vs. teens’ self-report survey data.