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 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) by Key Analytics and Consulting, LLC. The data in the reports reflect the completeness and quality of data contained within T-MSIS TAFs. Data quality for each measure is assessed using the Data Quality Atlas as well as proprietary methods based on critical data elements required to calculate each measure. Contact dqa@ada.org for questions about the dashboard reports.


Dashboard of DQA Quality Measures

 

Measurement Selection Guide

Please note that data for all selections (e.g., year, service type) are not applicable for all measures. The table below indicates which selections are applicable to which measures. If a selection does not apply, a message will appear instructing to make a different selection.

View the Measurement Selection Guide (PDF)






Last Updated: October 23, 2024

Notes

  1. 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. Data quality is assessed based on evaluation of the critical data elements used to calculate each measure. Data quality is assessed for each measure, each state, and each year.
  2. 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(s) 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.
  3. Service type is invalid: Select a different service type for the measure selected. Service type classifications for the purpose of measurement are based on federal definitions used by 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 health care professionals (e.g., pediatricians). All service types do not apply to all measures. The detailed measure specifications indicate which service types are applicable for a specific measure, and the User Guides provides guidance on “dental” versus “oral health” services. Measure specifications and the User Guides can be found on the DQA’s Dental Quality Measures page.
  4. Data are not available for the selected state, year, and measure combination. Some combinations of selections may not be available. For example, the measure Care Continuity cannot be calculated for 2016; thus, selection of Care Continuity and 2016 will generate this message. When this message appears, please make a different selection.
  5. Adult Utilization of Services. Reports related to Utilization of Services for Adults are meant to provide contextual information about dental service use among adult Medicaid beneficiaries. These reports indicate the percentage of adult Medicaid beneficiaries aged 21 years and older, enrolled for at least 180 days continuously, who had at least one dental service of any type (any CDT code). The denominator for these reports is the unduplicated number of adults 21 years and older enrolled for at least 180 days continuously in the reporting year. The numerator is the subset of the denominator who received at least one dental service of any type.
  6. Adult benefits coverage. The adult measures include a note below the chart indicating the extent of adult benefits coverage in the state for each year. Benefits coverage categorizations follow those identified by the Center for Health Care Strategies, Inc (CHCS). The following sources were used to identify coverage for specific years:

Planned Updates:

  • CY 2021 data
  • Additional adult measures

Suggested Citation

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

Acknowledgement:

  1. American Dental Association
  2. Key Analytics and Consulting, LLC
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 a 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) 

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.