The adjusted quartile ranking assesses your performance in clinical quality measures (CQMs) compared to other health centers with similar patient demographics and organizational characteristics. The CQM data come from the Uniform Data System (UDS), a standardized reporting system used to assess the impact and performance of the Health Center Program and promote data-driven quality improvement.
Clinical performance for each measure is ranked from quartile 1 (highest 25% of reporting health centers) to quartile 4 (lowest 25% of reporting health centers).
We calculate these adjusted measures each year using the most currently available UDS data. So, the thresholds between adjusted quartiles may not be consistent year-to-year. We are unable to calculate these values in advance. See Health Center Adjusted Quartile Ranking Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
Note: Health centers with clinical quality measures (CQMs) with fewer than 30 patients that meet the measure criteria in the denominator or zero/missing clinical measures are excluded..
Considerations
Adjusted quartile rankings do not replace the actual performance rates for CQMs reported in the UDS. We recommend that you use actual (unadjusted) performance rates for your own quality improvement efforts. We also use actual (unadjusted) performance rates to assess health center performance on CQMs over time. CQM values for all HRSA-funded health centers are available in the downloadable full datasets in the HRSA Electronic Reading Room.
Reporting health centers will receive their own adjusted rankings. Please view AQRs for your individual health center in the Clinical Data section on the Health Center Program Uniform Data System (UDS) Data Overview. If a ranking is identified as an outlier, the affected health center will not receive the ranking for that measure. This outlier exclusion means that the adjusted quartile ranking is considered to be a statistical anomaly and has no negative implications because outliers and non-rankings do not allow for an adequate evaluation of health center performance. For example, outliers or non-rankings might occur due to having less than 30 patients in a CQM’s denominator.
The adjusted quartile ranking process is reviewed annually.