1. Developing and Testing an Electronic Measure of Screening Colonoscopy Overuse in a Large Integrated Healthcare System.
- Author
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Saini, Sameer, Powell, Adam, Dominitz, Jason, Fisher, Deborah, Francis, Joseph, Kinsinger, Linda, Pittman, Kathleen, Schoenfeld, Philip, Moser, Stephanie, Vijan, Sandeep, Kerr, Eve, Saini, Sameer D, Powell, Adam A, Dominitz, Jason A, Fisher, Deborah A, Pittman, Kathleen S, Moser, Stephanie E, and Kerr, Eve A
- Subjects
HEALTH services administration ,CLINICAL medicine ,MEDICAL quality control ,COLONOSCOPY ,ELECTRONIC health records ,ECONOMICS ,MANAGEMENT - Abstract
Background: Most existing performance measures focus on underuse of care, but there is growing interest in identifying and reducing overuse.Objective: We aimed to develop a valid and reliable electronic performance measure of overuse of screening colonoscopy in the Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VA), and to quantify overuse in VA.Design: This was a cross-sectional study with multiple cross-sections.Subjects: U.S. Veterans who underwent screening colonoscopy between 2011 and 2013.Main Measures: Overuse of screening colonoscopy, using a validated electronic measure developed by an expert workgroup.Key Results: Compared to results obtained from manual record review, the electronic measure was highly specific (97 %) for overuse, but not sensitive (20 %). After exclusion of diagnostic and high-risk screening or surveillance procedures, the validated electronic measure identified 88,754 average-risk screening colonoscopies performed in VA during 2013. Of these, 20,530 (23 %) met the definition for probable (17 %) or possible (6 %) overuse. Substantial variation in colonoscopy overuse was noted between Veterans Integrated Care Networks (VISNs) and between facilities, with a nearly twofold difference between the maximum and minimum rates of overuse at the VISN level and a nearly eightfold difference at the facility level. Overuse at the VISN and facility level was relatively stable over time.Conclusions: Overuse of screening colonoscopy can be measured reliably and with high specificity using electronic data, and is common in a large integrated healthcare system. Overuse measures, such as those we have specified through a consensus workgroup process, could be combined with underuse measures to improve the appropriateness of colorectal cancer screening. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]- Published
- 2016
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