Benchmarking HIV Quality Measures in the US OPERA HIV Cohort

Abstract

Background: Quality measures are effective tools to improve patient outreach, retention in care, adherence, and outcomes. This study benchmarks National Quality Forum-endorsed HIV quality measures in a US clinical cohort. Methods: This observational study utilized prospectively captured data from the Observational Pharmaco-Epidemiology Research and Analysis (OPERA) database over 2014-2016 to assess quality measure achievement among patients with HIV in terms of medical visit frequency (#2079), medical visit gaps (#2080), viral suppression (#2082), and antiretroviral therapy (ART) prescriptions (#2083). The proportion of patients meeting each measure was calculated. Generalized estimating equations assessed trends in measure achievement. Results: The OPERA sample included 23 059-42 285 patients with similar demographics and characteristics across measurement periods. Overall, 62%-66% of patients met the visit frequency measure (#2079), 81%-85% had no gaps between visits (#2080), 71%-73% achieved viral suppression (#2082), and 92%-94% were prescribed ART (#2083). The adjusted odds of achieving viral suppression and being prescribed ART increased over time by 3% and 19%, respectively, despite a significant decline in patient engagement (16% for #2079, 25% for #2080). Patients <30 years of age were significantly less likely to meet all measures than older patients (P