This toolkit presents a children's health care quality measure from the AHRQ-CMS Pediatric Quality Measures Program (PQMP). The measure has been developed by PQMP Centers of Excellence (COE) grantee, Dr. Gary L. Freed, M.D., M.P.H.
The measure, Transcranial Doppler Ultrasonography (TCD) Screening among Children with Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA), calculates the percentage of children ages 2 through 15 years old with SCA who received at least one TCD screening within the measurement year. Children with SCA have over three hundred times the stroke risk than children with normal hemoglobin, and TCD screening is a reasonable method to assess stroke risk among children with SCA. A higher proportion of TCD screening indicates better performance as reflected by appropriate testing.
This toolkit includes materials to support users in:
- Utilizing a claims-based method for identifying receipt of TCD screening among populations of children with SCA,
- Defining the target population and calculating performance rate, and
- Implementing strategies to improve TCD screening among children with SCA.
The intended audience for this toolkit includes decision-makers at the state and health plan levels. The measure may be used at the state-level for public reporting, public health/disease surveillance, and quality improvement efforts within the state and among Medicaid and CHIP health plans. Health plans may use the measure for public reporting and quality improvement efforts within the organization.
This toolkit is organized into 6 sections:
- Overview.
- About the Measure.
- Key Driver Diagrams.
- Quality Improvement Strategies.
- Improvement Data.
- Other Resources.
