Announcements

AHRQ launches new Web-based tool for States to measure performance on the quality of health care

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has released a new interactive Web-based tool for States to use in measuring health care quality. The new State Snapshot Web tool is based on the 2005 National Healthcare Quality Report (NHQR) and the 2005 National Healthcare Disparities Report (NHDR), and provides quick and easy access to the many measures and tables of the NHQR from each State's perspective. The State Snapshot tool provides valuable information including:

• State ranking tables that rank the 50 States and the District of Columbia on 15 representative measures of health care quality culled from 179 measures contained in the 2005 NHQR.
• Summary measures of the quality of types of care (prevention, acute, chronic) and settings of care (hospital, ambulatory, nursing home, and home health) for each State.
• Comparisons of each State's summary measures to regional and national performance relative to the region or nation.
• Performance meters that show at a glance a State's performance relative to the region or nation.
• Data tables for each State's summary measures that show the NHQR detailed measures and numbers behind the performance meters.

Also, the State Snapshot tool features a special focus on each State's performance in the treatment of diabetes across three areas:

• Quality of diabetes care.
• Disparities in diabetes treatment.
• Cost savings that States might accrue by implementing disease management for diabetes for State government employees.

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