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MassachusettsBlack Quality Measures Compared to Achievable Benchmarks

The NHQDR quality measures specific to Black are compared to achievable benchmarks, which are derived from the top-performing States. Better performance of a State can mean higher or lower values of a measure, depending on the desired outcome. For example, low values are desirable for measures such as infant mortality, whereas high values are desirable for measures such as preventative screening. The categories of achievement have been standardized across the measure definitions so that:

Far away from benchmark - a State's value for a measure has not achieved 50% of the benchmark.

Close to benchmark - a State's value for a measure is between 50% and 90% of a benchmark (i.e., worse than the benchmark but has achieved at least half of the benchmark but not as much as 90% of a benchmark).

Achieved benchmark or better - a State's value for a measure is no worse than 90% of the benchmark value, the measure has achieved the benchmark. This category also includes the case in which the measure’s value is equal to or better than the benchmark.

Measures That Achieved Benchmark or Better
Measure	Population	Estimate	Benchmark	Distance to Benchmark
Long-stay nursing home residents with a urinary tract infection	Black	0.9	2.8	Achieved: 70% better
Long-stay nursing home residents with too much weight loss	Black	3.8	4.7	Achieved: 20% better
Long-stay nursing home residents with moderate to severe pain	Black	3.7	4.3	Achieved: 14% better
Home health care patients whose management of oral medications improved	Black	73.9	66.2	Achieved: 12% better
Home health care patients whose ability to get in and out of bed improved	Black	76.8	72.6	Achieved: 6% better
Long-stay nursing home residents have depressive symptoms	Black	1.1	1.1	Achieved: 5% better
Adults who received a blood cholesterol measurement in the last 5 years	Black	86.5	82.3	Achieved: 5% better
Adults who reported that home health providers talked with them about when to take medicines in the last 2 months of care	Black	35.3	33.9	Achieved: 4% better
Home health care patients whose pain when moving around decreased	Black	77.9	75.1	Achieved: 4% better
Home health care patients whose ability to walk or move around improved	Black	76.7	74.2	Achieved: 3% better
Adults who reported a home health provider asking to see all the prescription and over-the-counter medicines they were taking, when they first started getting home health care	Black	87.2	85.5	Achieved: 2% better
Home health care patients whose bathing improved	Black	79.5	78.2	Achieved: 2% better
Women ages 50-74 who received a mammogram in the last 2 years	Black	85.2	84.7	Achieved: 1% better
Home health patients who had influenza vaccination during flu season	Black	93.7	94.1	0.4%
Home health care patients whose shortness of breath decreased	Black	77.9	78.4	0.6%
Home health care patients whose surgical wound was improved	Black	92.2	93.1	1.0%
Home health patients who had improvement in upper body dressing	Black	78.3	79.3	1.2%
Adults who reported a home health provider talking with them about all the prescription and over-the-counter medicines they were taking when they first started getting home health care	Black	86.7	88.2	1.7%
Home health patients who had improvement in toileting	Black	76.6	78.9	2.9%
Adults who reported that home health providers talked with them about the purpose for taking their new or changed prescription medicines in the last 2 months of care	Black	34.7	35.9	3.4%
Adults who did not have any problem with the care they received from their home health providers in the last 2 months of care	Black	89.8	94.0	4.5%
Adults home health patients age 18 and over who reported that home health providers talked with them about the side effects of medicines in the last 2 months of care	Black	28.1	29.5	4.9%
Women ages 21-65 who received a Pap smear in the last 3 years	Black	80.0	84.2	5.0%
Home health care patients who stayed at home after an episode of home health care	Black	81.0	85.5	5.3%
Adults who reported being told what care and services they would get when they first started getting home health care	Black	85.4	91.3	6.5%
Adults who reported that home health providers always treated them with courtesy and respect in the last 2 months of care	Black	88.4	95.0	6.9%
Adults who reported that home health providers always treated them as gently as possible in the last 2 months of care	Black	85.5	92.5	7.5%
Short-stay nursing home patients who had flu vaccination appropriately given	Black	85.1	92.2	7.7%
Long-stay nursing home residents whose ability to move independently worsened	Black	22.4	20.7	8.2%
Adults who reported that home health providers talk about pain in the last 2 months of care	Black	83.7	91.2	8.3%
Adults who reported that home health providers always explained things in a way that was easy to understand in the last 2 months of care	Black	79.5	86.8	8.4%
Long-stay nursing home patients who were assessed and appropriately given the seasonal influenza vaccine	Black	86.0	93.9	8.5%

Measures That Are Close to Benchmark
Measure	Population	Estimate	Benchmark	Distance to Benchmark
Adults who reported that home health providers always listen carefully to them in the last 2 months of care	Black	78.9	87.9	10.3%
Long-stay nursing home residents who were assessed for pneumococcal vaccination	Black	86.7	97.0	10.7%
Adults who reported a home health provider talking with them about how to set up their home so they can move around safely when they first started getting home health care	Black	71.4	80.1	10.9%
Adults who reported that home health providers always seem informed and up-to-date about all the cares or treatments they got at home in the last 2 months of care	Black	60.1	67.6	11.1%
Adults who reported getting the help or advice they needed when they contacted their home health providers in the last 2 months of care	Black	26.5	30.4	12.9%
Adults who reported that home health providers always kept them informed about when they would arrive at their home in the last 2 months of care	Black	72.1	83.3	13.4%
Home health patients who had pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccination	Black	76.9	91.0	15.5%
Short-stay nursing home residents who were assessed for pneumococcal vaccination	Black	76.6	91.4	16.2%
Long-stay nursing home residents whose need for help with daily activities increased	Black	20.8	17.1	21.8%
Adults who reported getting the help or advice they needed the same day they contacted their home health providers	Black	18.6	23.8	22.0%
Short-stay nursing home residents with moderate to severe pain	Black	13.1	10.5	24.8%
Adult hospital patients who sometimes or never had good communication about medications they received in the hospital	Black	9.7	7.8	25.0%
Low-risk, long-stay nursing home residents with a catheter inserted and left in the bladder	Black	2.8	2.1	34.9%
Adult hospital patients who did not receive good communication about discharge information	Black	11.2	7.7	45.1%
Rating of health care 0-6 on a scale from 0 (worst grade) to 10 (best grade) by adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months, Medicare managed care	Black	10.6	7.2	48.0%
Home health care patients who had an emergency department visit without a hospitalization	Black	4.2	2.8	48.2%

Measures That Are Far From Benchmark
Measure	Population	Estimate	Benchmark	Distance to Benchmark
Home health care patients who had to be admitted to the hospital	Black	16.3	10.5	55.2%
Adults who had an appointment for routine health care in the last 6 or 12 months who sometimes or never got an appointments for routine care as soon as wanted, Medicare managed care	Black	13.1	8.2	58.8%
Home health care patients who had an emergency department visit and then hospitalized	Black	14.1	8.9	59.1%
Short-stay nursing home patients with pressure ulcers that are new or worsened	Black	0.5	0.3	61.3%
High-risk, long-stay nursing home patients with pressure ulcer	Black	4.9	3.0	63.1%
Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months and needed care, tests, or treatment who sometimes or never found it easy to get the care, tests, or treatment, Medicare managed care	Black	9.9	4.9	103.1%
Adult hospital patients who strongly disagree or disagree that staff took their preferences and those of their family and caregiver into account when deciding what the patients discharge health care would be	Black	7.2	3.2	122.7%
Adults who needed to see a specialist in the last 6 or 12 months who sometimes or never found it easy to see a specialist, Medicare managed care	Black	23.6	6.4	269.9%

Measures With No Available Benchmark Information
Measure	Population	Estimate	Benchmark	Distance to Benchmark
Adults age 40 and over with diagnosed diabetes who received a flu vaccination in the calendar year	Black
Long-stay nursing home residents with physical restraints	Black
Adults ages 18-64 at high risk (e.g., COPD) who received an influenza vaccination in the last flu season	Black
Adults age 65 and over who received an influenza vaccination in the last flu season	Black
Adults ages 18-64 at high risk (e.g., COPD) who ever received pneumococcal vaccination	Black
Adults age 65 and over who ever received pneumococcal vaccination	Black

National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Reports

MassachusettsBlack Quality Measures Compared to Achievable Benchmarks

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