South Carolina Quality Measures Compared to Achievable Benchmarks

The quality measures 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.

Due to changes in methodology, including a transition from International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) to Tenth Revision (ICD-10) codes and updates to the Quality Indicators software, the current measure set does not contain AHRQ Quality Indicator measure results based on Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) data. These changes to the measure set had a significant impact on overall meter scores, so they are not provided at this time. When data become available, State scores will again be included.

All Measures

Select any summary bar to review the list of measures and supporting data.

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Benchmarks are available for 131 measures including 26 measures that are far away from the benchmark, 46 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 59 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks are unavailable for 20 measures (13 percent of all measures).

Review underlying data

The National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report (NHQDR) focuses on “prevailing disparities in health care delivery as it relates to racial factors and socioeconomic factors in priority populations” (42 U.S.C. 299a-1(a)(6)). Therefore, data summaries are provided below to facilitate comparison of these factors. Links to summaries of all individual quality measures are available in the National View banner above.

Measures by Race and Ethnicity

Select any summary bar to review the list of measures and supporting data.

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Benchmarks for Whites are available for 77 measures including 9 measures that are far away from the benchmark, 29 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 39 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks for Blacks are available for 72 measures including 15 measures that are far away from the benchmark, 19 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 38 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks for Hispanics are available for 18 measures including 1 measure that is far away from the benchmark, 3 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 14 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks for Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islanders are available for 0 measures including 0 measures that are far away from the benchmark, 0 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 0 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks for Asians are available for 33 measures including 2 measures that are far away from the benchmark, 5 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 26 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks for AI/AN are available for 20 measures including 1 measure that is far away from the benchmark, 4 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 15 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks for Non-Hispanic Whites are available for 56 measures including 7 measures that are far away from the benchmark, 24 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 25 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.

Measures by Community Income

Select any summary bar to review the list of measures and supporting data.

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Benchmarks for People with Low Incomes are available for 13 measures including 3 measures that are far away from the benchmark, 7 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 3 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.
Benchmarks for People with High Incomes are available for 13 measures including 1 measure that is far away from the benchmark, 3 measures that are close to the benchmark, and 9 measures that achieved the benchmark or better.