The HEDIS Medication Management for People with Asthma Measure is Not Related to Improved Asthma Outcomes

A new Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) asthma quality-of-care measure designed to quantify patient adherence to asthma controller medication has been implemented. The relationship between this measure and asthma outcomes is unknown.

To examine the relationship between the HEDIS Medication Management for people with Asthma (MMA) measure and asthma outcomes.

Administrative data identified 30,040 patients who met HEDIS criteria for persistent asthma during 2012. These patients were classified as compliant or noncompliant with the MMA measure at the 75% and 50% threshold, respectively. The association between MMA compliance in 2012 and asthma outcomes in 2013 was determined.

Patients who were 75% or 50% MMA compliant in 2012 showed no clinically meaningful difference in asthma-related hospitalizations, emergency department visits, or rescue inhaler dispensing in 2013 compared with those who were noncompliant. Stepwise comparison of patients who were 75% or more, 50% to 74%, and less than 50% MMA compliant showed no meaningful difference in asthma outcomes between groups.

Compliance with the HEDIS MMA measure is not related to improvement in the asthma outcomes assessed (rescue inhaler dispensing, asthma-coded hospitalizations, or asthma-coded emergency department visits).