NCQA Eyes Kid Care Quality

In the past, researchers have been able to get some basic child-health information, such as the percentage of children who have received well-child exams, but researchers have had a harder time getting specific quality information, such as information about the percentage of 2-year-olds who have had a recent well-child visit that included lead screening, vision screening, hearing screening, and comprehensive developmental screening, according to the authors of the NCQA-Commonwealth Fund report.

The authors are recommending use of a “framework for prevention” that includes measures linked to specific milestone ages, such as before an infant turns 6 months old and by a child’s sixth birthday.

One goal should be to “develop a measurement plan to increase attention to child health outcomes of broad interest, such as school readiness, workforce readiness, and family productivity,” the authors write.

“Measures of family productivity would track children’s absences from school due to illness as well as lost work days for family members who have to care for them,” the authors write. “Measures of workforce readiness would gauge adolescents’ preparedness to lead healthy and productive adult lives.”