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Email UpdatesNationalResidents of Rural Areas Quality Measures Compared to Achievable Benchmarks
The NHQDR quality measures specific to Residents of Rural Areas 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:
| Measure | Population | Estimate | Benchmark | Distance to Benchmark |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adults who had any appointments for routine health care in the last 12 months who sometimes or never got an appointment for routine care as soon as needed | Noncore | 13.8 | ||
| Children who had any appointments for routine health care in the last 12 months who sometimes or never got an appointment for routine care as soon as needed | Nonmetropolitan | 7.3 | ||
| Adults who needed care right away for an illness, injury, or condition in the last 12 months who sometimes or never got care as soon as needed | Noncore | 13.6 | ||
| People under age 65 with health insurance | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 85.8 | ||
| People under age 65 with any private health insurance | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 59.0 | ||
| Adults age 65 and over with any private health insurance | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 52.8 | ||
| People under age 65 who were uninsured all year | Noncore | 7.9 | ||
| People under age 65 with any period of uninsurance during the year | Noncore | 20.6 | ||
| People with a specific source of ongoing care | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 88.0 | ||
| People in fair or poor health with a specific source of ongoing care | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 89.7 | ||
| People who were unable to get or delayed in getting needed medical care in the last 12 months | Noncore | 5.4 | ||
| People who were unable to get or delayed in getting needed dental care in the last 12 months | Noncore | 4.1 | ||
| People who were unable to get or delayed in getting needed prescription medicines in the last 12 months | Noncore | 4.4 | ||
| People with a usual source of care, excluding hospital emergency rooms, who has office hours at night or on weekends | Noncore | 33.3 | ||
| People with a usual source of care who is somewhat to very difficulty to contact during regular business hours over the telephone | Noncore | 17.3 | ||
| Adults who tried to make an appointment for seeing a specialist in the last 12 months who sometimes or never found it easy to get the appointment | Noncore | 15.6 | ||
| Children who needed to see a specialist in the last 12 months who sometimes or never found it easy to see a specialist | Nonmetropolitan | 25.6 | ||
| 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 | Noncore | 6.2 | ||
| Children 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 | Nonmetropolitan | 10.1 | ||
| Hospital admissions with central venous catheter-related bloodstream infection per 1,000 medical and surgical discharges of length 2 or more days, adults age 18 and over or obstetric admissions | Noncore | 0.1 | ||
| Postoperative acute kidney injury requiring dialysis per 1,000 elective surgical hospital discharges, adults | Noncore | 2.2 | ||
| Postoperative physiologic and metabolic derangements per 1,000 elective surgical hospital discharges, adults | Noncore | 0.9 | ||
| Postoperative hip fracture per 1,000 surgical admissions who were not susceptible to falling, adults | Noncore | 0.1 | ||
| Accidental puncture or laceration during procedure per 1,000 medical and surgical admissions, children | Noncore | 0.3 | ||
| Hospital admissions with iatrogenic pneumothorax per 1,000 medical and surgical admissions, adults | Noncore | 0.2 | ||
| Deaths per 1,000 elective-surgery admissions having developed specified complications of care during hospitalization, adults ages 18-89 or obstetric admissions | Noncore | 147.6 | ||
| Deaths per 1,000 hospital admissions with expected low-mortality | Noncore | 0.3 | ||
| Birth trauma - injury to neonate per 1,000 selected live births | Noncore | 5.7 | ||
| Obstetric trauma per 1,000 vaginal deliveries without instrument assistance | Noncore | 15.3 | ||
| Obstetric trauma per 1,000 instrument-assisted deliveries | Noncore | 92.6 | ||
| Adults age 65 and over who received in the calendar year at least 1 of 11 prescription medications that should be avoided in older adults | Nonmetropolitan | |||
| Adults age 65 and over who received in the calendar year at least 1 of 33 potentially inappropriate prescription medications for older adults | Noncore | 10.3 | ||
| Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers sometimes or never listened carefully to them | Noncore | 9.7 | ||
| Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers sometimes or never explained things in a way they could understand | Noncore | 7.8 | ||
| Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers sometimes or never showed respect for what they had to say | Noncore | 8.3 | ||
| People with a usual primary care provider | Noncore | 81.0 | ||
| Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers sometimes or never spent enough time with them | Noncore | 10.9 | ||
| Adults who rated their healthcare received in the last 12 months as poor (0-6) on a scale of 0-10 (where 0 is the worst and 10 is the best) | Noncore | 14.2 | ||
| Adults with limited English proficiency and usual source of care (USC) and the USC had language assistance | Nonmetropolitan | 94.0 | ||
| Adults with limited English proficiency who had a usual source of care | Nonmetropolitan | 69.4 | ||
| People with a usual source of care whose providers sometimes or never asked them to help make decisions when there was a choice between treatments | Noncore | 15.5 | ||
| Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers always gave them easy-to-understand instructions about what to do for a specific illness or health conditions | Noncore | 70.5 | ||
| Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers always asked them to describe how they will follow the instructions | Noncore | 22.2 | ||
| Adults who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months whose health providers always offered help in filling out forms | Noncore | 14.6 | ||
| People with a usual source of care who usually asks about prescription medications and treatments from other doctors | Noncore | 85.1 | ||
| Emergency department visits with a principal diagnosis related to mental health only per 100,000 population | Noncore | 1186.6 | ||
| Emergency department visits with a principal diagnosis related to substance abuse only, per 100,000 population | Noncore | 368.9 | ||
| Emergency department visits with a principal diagnosis related to dental conditions | Micropolitan and noncore (rural) | 491.7 | ||
| Emergency department encounters for asthma, adults | Noncore | 349.3 | ||
| Emergency department encounters for asthma, children ages 2-17 | Noncore | 453.2 | ||
| Emergency department visits for asthma per 10,000 population, ages 2-19 | Non-MSA | 86.1 | ||
| Hospital admissions for short-term complications of diabetes per 100,000 population, adults | Noncore | 65.3 | ||
| Hospital admissions for long-term complications of diabetes per 100,000 population, adults | Noncore | 118.2 | ||
| Hospitalizations and emergency department encounters for heart failure | Noncore | 634.9 | ||
| Hospital admissions for perforated appendix per 1,000 admissions with appendicitis, children | Noncore | 556.4 | ||
| Hospital admissions for hypertension per 100,000 population, adults age 18 and over | Noncore | 54.8 | ||
| Hospital admissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma per 100,000 population, adults age 40 and over | Noncore | 794.0 | ||
| Hospital admissions for heart failure per 100,000 population | Noncore | 521.2 | ||
| Deaths per 1,000 adult hospital admissions with abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair | Noncore | 34.9 | ||
| Deaths per 1,000 hospital admissions with coronary artery bypass surgery, adults age 40 and over | Noncore | 27.8 | ||
| Deaths per 1,000 hospital admissions with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), adults age 40 and over | Noncore | 26.2 | ||
| Adults with a major depressive episode in the last 12 months who received treatment for depression in the last 12 months | Noncore | 65.4 | ||
| Children ages 12-17 with a major depressive episode in the last 12 months who received treatment for depression in the last 12 months | Noncore | 39.7 | ||
| People age 12 and over who needed treatment for illicit drug use and who received such treatment at a specialty facility in the last 12 months | Noncore | 14.1 | ||
| People age 12 and over who needed treatment for alcohol problem who received such treatment at a specialty facility in the last 12 months | Noncore | 12.0 | ||
| Adults who filled an outpatient opioid prescription in the calendar year | Noncore | 17.3 | ||
| Adults who filled four or more outpatient opioid prescriptions in the calendar year | Noncore | 7.9 | ||
| Adults with chronic joint symptoms who have ever seen a doctor or other health professional for joint symptoms | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 72.2 | ||
| Deaths per 1,000 adult hospital admissions with pneumonia | Noncore | 30.1 | ||
| People with current asthma who are now taking preventive medicine daily or almost daily (either oral or inhaler) | Noncore | 16.1 | ||
| Persons with current asthma who received written asthma management plans from their healthcare provider | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 33.2 | ||
| Live-born infants with low birth weight (less than 2,500 g) | Noncore | 8.4 | ||
| Infant mortality per 1,000 live births, birth weight 2,500 grams or more | Noncore | 2.9 | ||
| Adult current smokers who had a doctor's office or clinic visit in the last 12 months who received advice to quit smoking from their providers | Noncore | 79.7 | ||
| Adults with obesity who ever received advice from a health professional to exercise more | Noncore | 58.2 | ||
| Children ages 2-17 for whom a health provider gave advice within the past 2 years about the amount and kind of exercise, sports, or physically active hobbies they should have | Noncore | 35.9 | ||
| Adults with obesity who ever received advice from a health professional about eating fewer high-fat or high-cholesterol foods | Noncore | 44.2 | ||
| Children ages 2-17 for whom a health provider gave advice within the past 2 years about eating healthy | Noncore | 53.3 | ||
| Adults who received a blood pressure measurement in the last 2 years and can state whether their blood pressure was normal or high | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 92.5 | ||
| Adults with a dental visit in the calendar year | Noncore | 32.7 | ||
| Adults who received a preventive dental service in the calendar year | Noncore | 23.0 | ||
| Adolescents females ages 13-15 who received 3 or more doses human papillomavirus vaccine | Nonmetropolitan | 35.2 | ||
| Adolescents females ages 16-17 who received 3 or more doses human papillomavirus vaccine | Nonmetropolitan | 43.9 | ||
| Adolescent males ages 16-17 who received 3 or more doses of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine | Nonmetropolitan | 4.6 | ||
| Children who had their height and weight measured by a health provider within the past 2 years | Noncore | 94.5 | ||
| Children ages 2-17 who had a dental visit in the calendar year | Noncore | 49.5 | ||
| Children ages 2-17 who received a preventive dental service in the calendar year | Noncore | 41.8 | ||
| Children ages 3-5 who ever had their vision checked by a health provider | Nonmetropolitan | 71.4 | ||
| Children for whom a health provider gave advice within the past 2 years about how smoking in the house can be bad for a child | Noncore | 52.5 | ||
| Children 0-40 lbs for whom a health provider gave advice within the past 2 years about using a child safety seat while riding in the car | Nonmetropolitan | 61.3 | ||
| Children 41-80 lbs for whom a health provider gave advice within the past 2 years about using a booster seat when riding in the car | Nonmetropolitan | 30.2 | ||
| Children over 80 lbs for whom a health provider gave advice within the past 2 years about using lap or shoulder belts when riding in a car | Noncore | 31.5 | ||
| Children ages 2-17 for whom a health provider gave advice within the past 2 years about using a helmet when riding a bicycle or motorcycle | Noncore | 26.2 | ||
| Children ages 0-17 with wellness checkup in the past 12 months | Micropolitan (nonmetro) | 83.4 | ||
| People under age 65 whose family's health insurance premium and out-of-pocket medical expenditures were more than 10% of total family income | Noncore | 23.2 | ||
| People without a usual source of care who indicated a financial or insurance reason for not having a source of care | Noncore | 12.2 | ||
| People unable to get or delayed in getting needed medical care due to financial or insurance reasons | Nonmetropolitan | 42.2 | ||
| People unable to get or delayed in getting needed dental care due to financial or insurance reasons | Nonmetropolitan | 72.1 | ||
| People unable to get or delayed in getting needed prescription medicines due to financial or insurance reasons | Nonmetropolitan | 62.3 |