Variation in US outpatient antibiotic prescribing quality measures according to health plan and geography

Antibiotic prescribing has become increasingly viewed as an issue related to patient safety and quality of care. The objective of this study was to better understand the differences between health plan reporting and the geographic variation seen in quality measures related to antibiotic use.

We focused on 3 measures from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) related to antibiotic prescribing and testing to guide antibiotic prescribing.

We analyzed data for 3 relevant measures for the years 2008 to 2012, including only commercial health plans. We analyzed the following 3 HEDIS measures: 1) "Appropriate Testing for Children With Pharyngitis," 2) "Appropriate Treatment for Children With Upper Respiratory Infections," and 3) "Avoidance of Antibiotic Treatment in Adults With Acute Bronchitis."

Out of these 3 measures, health plans consistently performed poorly on the adult bronchitis measure. Performance was better on the 2 measures focused on the pediatric population. We also saw geographic variation between measures when looking at Census divisions across all years.

There is wide variation between individual health plan performance on the measures related to antibiotic use. Geographic differences were also observed on these measures, with health plans in the South Central Census division performing worse than other parts of the country. Stakeholders, such as public health, advocacy groups, foundations, and professional societies, interested in improving the quality of care that patients receive related to antibiotic use in the outpatient setting should consider how existing measures and working with health plans could be used to improve prescribing.