Table 1

Diabetes Measures, Demographics, and Survey Response Rates in Higher- and Lower-Performing Practices

Quintile and PracticeAbsolute % Change at 18 MonthsImprovement Indexa at 18 MonthsFirst NCQA Levelb (2008–2009)Type of PracticeSize of PracticecAdaptive Reserve/Burnout Survey Response Rate, %
HbA1c <7%BP <130/80 mm HgLDL-C <100 mg/dL
Higher performing
 Practice A15.835.114.421.72PrivateSmall72
 Practice B13.520.720.318.21FQHCSmall75
 Practice C12.512.610.211.83PrivateSmall71
 Practice D0.811.920.311.03PrivateMedium97
 Practice E1.517.39.39.43PrivateMedium12
Average8.819.514.914.42.461
Lower performing
 Practice U−12.1−4.1−8.7−8.31FQHCSmall63
 Practice V−10.0−6.4−10.8−9.01Health systemMedium18
 Practice W−9.2−17.7d−7.7−11.63PrivateSolo/partner58
 Practice X−9.6−11.2−14.2−11.72PrivateMedium39
 Practice Y−18.1−2.1−24.7−15.01PrivateSolo/partner73
Average−11.8−8.3−13.2−11.11.644
  • HbA1c = glycated hemoglobin; BP = blood pressure; LDL-C = low-density lipoprotein cholesterol; NCQA = National Committee for Quality Assurance; FQHC = Federally Qualified Health Center.

  • Note: Practices were classified as higher or lower performing at 18 months (December 2009) as measured by the improvement index. Source: Clinical and NCQA data submitted by practices to the Improving Performance in Practice program.

  • a Calculated for each practice as the arithmetic mean of the absolute percent improvement in the 3 outcomes from baseline to 18 months.

  • b First NCQA Physician Practice Connections Patient-Centered Medical Home (PPC-PCMH) recognition level; possible levels range from 1 (lowest) to 3 (highest).

  • c Practice size categories were based on the number full-time equivalent (FTE) clinicians as solo/partner (1–2 FTE clinicians), small (3–4), or medium (5–9).

  • d Calculated from baseline to January 2010 because of an obvious data error in December 2009.