Developing National Standardized Performance Measures for School-Based Health Centers: The National Quality...

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Healthcare Quality Improvement
• Child Health Services

Background:

• Limited national data exists on the quality of care provided by school-based health centers (SBHCs).
• Standardized quality metrics are crucial for informing and improving healthcare delivery within SBHCs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and pilot national performance measures (NPMs) for assessing the quality of care in SBHCs.
• To establish a framework for national quality monitoring and improvement in school-based healthcare.

Main Methods:

• NPMs were created by reviewing existing child health quality initiatives and through stakeholder consensus.
• Measures were pilot-tested with 73 SBHCs, followed by voluntary national data reporting from SBHCs.
• Data extraction from electronic health records presented challenges during pilot testing.

Main Results:

• Five key NPMs were selected, focusing on well-child visits, risk assessments, BMI screening with counseling, depression screening, and chlamydia screening.
• Approximately 20% of SBHCs nationally voluntarily reported data in the initial year.
• SBHCs identified strategies to overcome data reporting challenges.

Conclusions:

• Standardized performance measures enable SBHCs to monitor and enhance care delivery.
• These metrics allow SBHCs to demonstrate their effectiveness relative to other child health systems.
• Continued data collection is essential to evaluate the impact of NPM adoption on nationwide SBHC quality improvement.