DQA Improvement Initiatives

The DQA is committed to participating in and designing initiatives that support system-wide improvement within oral health. The information below highlights some of the resources and initiatives that the DQA has developed to champion quality improvement in oral health.

DQA State Oral Healthcare Quality Dashboard

These reports reflect analysis of Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS) Analytic Files (TAFs) from CMS by Key Analytics and Consulting. The data in the reports reflect the completeness and quality of data contained within T-MSIS TAFs. For more information on each state’s data quality, please visit the Data Quality Atlas. Contact dqa@ada.org for questions about the dashboard reports.

Planned Updates:

Emergency Department Use and Follow-up: Spring 2022
TX, CA and IL: Spring 2022
National Measure Scores: Spring 2022
Adult Measures: Summer 2022
CY 2019 and CY 2020 Data: Fall 2022

Following these releases, the dashboard reports will be updated annually as new data are available through T-MSIS from CMS. Additional Features, such as time trend reports, data export functionality, and print capability will be added as the project develops. Please send suggestions to dqa@ada.org.

Last Updated: April 6, 2022

Overall measure quality: Check the overall data quality note at the bottom of the chart. Significant issues with data quality may result in extremely low scores. For example, if data on rendering provider taxonomy codes (NUCC codes) are completely missing in a particular state, then measure scores will be 0.00% for the “dental services” service type.
Insufficient data to display: For stratified measure scores (e.g., measure scores reported by age, race and ethnicity, urban or rural location, and sex) that have insufficient data noted, check the missing data note at the bottom of the chart. Stratification variables that have more than 10% of missing data are not reported. Individual stratification categories (such as a specific race and ethnicity classification) are not reported if the denominator is less than 30 and the display will read 0.00%.
No data to display: Check if the service type is reportable for the measure selected. Note: For the purpose of measurement, based on definitions from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services: “Dental” services refer to services provided by or under the supervision of a dentist. “Oral health” services refer to services provided by other personnel (e.g., pediatricians).
The service type filter is not applicable for the following:
1. Oral Evaluation: oral health services, dental or oral health services
2. Caries Risk Documentation: dental services, oral health services
Please carefully review the DQA measure specifications for details.

Suggested Citation

Herndon J, Ojha D, Layman S, Colangelo E, Aravamudhan K. Dental Quality Alliance Oral Healthcare Quality State Profiles. American Dental Association in partnership with Key Analytics and Consulting. 2022.

Acknowledgement:

American Dental Association
Key Analytics and Consulting

The DQA Oral Healthcare Quality Dashboard dynamically-generated reports are part of a research project titled "The State of Oral Healthcare Use, Quality and Spending: Findings from Medicaid and CHIP Programs," made possible through Data Use Agreement (DUA) RSCH-2020-55639 with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Quality Improvement Resources

Quality Innovator Spotlights

To support system-wide improvement, the DQA has conducted an environmental scan to identify projects that could be used as examples of quality improvement. The projects highlighted through the Quality Innovators Spotlight series are shown below sorted by program, plan or practice/community level improvement below.

Program level improvement

SmileConnect®, an Altarum program (PDF)

Virginia Oral Health Learning Collaborative (PDF)

Plan level improvement

PreventistrySM (PDF)

Practice/community level improvement

Medical Oral Expanded Care (MORE Care) (PDF)

Early Childhood Caries Collaborative Project (PDF)

UCLA’s First 5 L.A. 21st Century Community Dental Homes Project (PDF)

Personalized Care: Caries Risk Assessment (PDF)

Opioid Prescription Reduction (PDF)

NNOHA (National Network for Oral Health Access) Dashboard Collaborative (PDF)

Marshfield Clinic Health System - Dental Quality Improvement Initiative (PDF)

Medicaid Quality Improvement Learning Academy

The DQA conducted a state level learning collaborative to promote system wide improvement. The pilot included state teams from Kansas, Missouri and Ohio. Below are resources related to the pilot:

Medicaid Quality Improvement Learning Academy (MeQILA) infographic (PDF)

DQA Medicaid Quality Improvement Learning Academy: Report from the DQA Implementation and Evaluation Committee (PDF)

Consortium for Oral Health Systems Integration and Improvement: Maternal and Child Health

The DQA is a partner in this collaborative project with the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors and the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Resource Center to expand access to integrated preventive oral health care for the maternal and child health (MCH) population, particularly in safety net sites.

The project will continue and expand activities of COHSII 2017–2021, providing services to state Title V (MCH) programs, state oral health programs, community-based programs, and professionals working in or with state Title V (MCH) programs. Three goals address identifying gaps and barriers, improving systems of care, and translating evidence to practice.

During COHSII 2017–2021, DQA led an advisory team in establishing a set of MCH oral health quality indicators designed for use by state oral health programs. The indicators constitute a standardized and aligned quality measurement system designed to promote state efforts to monitor and improve the quality of oral health care for the MCH population.

This cooperative agreement is funded by the Maternal and Child Health Bureau. For more information, please visit the COHSII website.