HEDIS® Measure: Appropriate Testing for Children with Pharyngitis

Last update: November 17, 2020

Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS^®) measures are used by the National Committee of Quality Assurance (NCQA), UnitedHealthcare Community Plan and care providers to evaluate and improve health care quality for patients. Meeting HEDIS^® measures help your patients stay as healthy as possible.   

This measure reflects the percentage of children, ages 3-18, who were diagnosed with pharyngitis, dispensed an antibiotic and received a group A streptococcus strep test for the episode.

Strategies to improve this measure:

• Complete a Strep A test on every patient diagnosed with pharyngitis before ordering antibiotic therapy.
• Instruct parents on the differences in treating a viral infection, which does not respond to antibiotics, and a bacterial infection, where antibiotics may be clinically indicated
• Utilize the appropriate coding for any secondary infection in which the antibiotic may have been ordered for

HEDIS^® is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).