Outcomes of Care for Iowa Medicaid Enrollees: State Fiscal Year 2008. Final Report to the Iowa Department of Human Services

The University of Iowa Public Policy Center (PPC) has provided the Iowa Department of Human Services (IDHS) with outcome measures related to the Medicaid program for over 15 years. For the past six years the PPC has provided a consistent set of measures as recommended by CMMS that include: well-child visits in the first 15 months of life; well-child visits in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth years of life; children and adolescents’ access to primary care practitioners; use of appropriate medications for people with asthma; adults’ access to preventive/ambulatory health services; prenatal and postpartum care; and comprehensive diabetes care: Hemoglobin A1c testing. Annual Dental Visit has also been included due to the dental disparities within Iowa. Though recent reports have included target performance rates for the IDHS, this report does not include targets. In analyzing the results of this report, we suggest that IDHS consider focusing on well-child visits in the first 15 months of life, well-child visits for children over 5 years old, dental visits for children under 4 years old, and Hemoglobin A1c testing for diabetics.