Quality Assessment of Dyslipidemia in Managed Care: Current Best Evidence Should Be Used to Benchmark Quality

Quality measurements in managed care allow purchasers of health care to distinguish between health plans. Existing measures (Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set goals) for treatment of dyslipidemia provide a limited snapshot about quality of care for members within commercial health plans. Newer evidence (ie, the Heart Protection Study) and consensus guidelines (the National Cholesterol Education Program) expand the definition of high-risk populations and emphasize pharmacotherapy in managing dyslipidemia. We believe that newer evidence and standards provide health plans with the best opportunity to accurately assess the quality of dyslipidemia care for their populations. We propose a broad framework that provides health plans with guidance on developing a new quality measure for dyslipidemia that focuses on pharmacotherapy.