Quality Care
Clinical Guidelines
Standards and Performance Measures
ASAM has published Standards of Care for the Addiction Specialist Physician. Developed by the Practice Improvement and Performance Measurement Action Group (PIPMAG), contributors included representatives from other professional societies and addiction-related federal agencies, in addition to individuals with significant experience in medical quality activities, performance standards development, and performance measurement.
Drafted by a diverse panel of researchers, academicians and performance measure experts, this document describes nine measures that address key areas of concern in health care delivery which, when implemented, will have the potential to improve patient and health care outcomes. It also proposes a prioritization for development of performance measures in this important specialty area of physician practice.
The goal of this paper was to describe the process of operationalizing three standards into quality measures, and to present the initial measure specifications and results of pilot testing these measures in a large health care system (Veterans Health Administration).
This study adds to the initial testing of these measures in the Veteran's Health Administration by testing the feasibility of specifications in commercial insurance data (Cigna).