The 131st Annual Meeting (November 15-19, 2003) of APHA

Abstract #61821

Linda Rudolph, MD, MPH, Medi-Cal Managed Care Division, California Department of Health Services, 714 P Street, Rm 950, Sacramento, CA 95814, 916.651.9409, lrudolph@dhs.ca.gov

Childhood lead poisoning is the most common environmental health problem in children. California and federal require blood lead screening at specified ages for all young children receiving Medicaid services. The Medi-Cal Managed Care Division, with its External Quality Review Organization (Health Services Advisory Group,Inc.) developed a HEDIS-like performance measure to assess managed care plan performance on childhood lead screening. The performance of 22 contracted managed care plans was assessed. Fewer than 50% of children received blood lead screening. Performance of plans varied widely. Only 1.5% of screened children had elevated BLL above 10 µg/dl

Learning Objectives:

• Identify challenges in measuring the performance of managed care plans with respect to child blood lead screening
• Discuss the limitations of existing lead screening measures

Keywords: Lead, Quality

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.