21 AHRQ Quality Indicators (QIs) are scheduled to be retired in the upcoming version 2019 of the AHRQ QI software. Version 2019 of the AHRQ QI software is expected to be released in the summer of 2019.
Indicators Retired in v2019 AHRQ QI Software as follows:
Prevention Quality Indicators
- PQI 02 Perforated Appendix Admission Rate
- PQI 09 Low Birth Weight Rate
- PQI 10 Dehydration Admission Rate
Inpatient Quality Indicators:
- IQI 01 Esophageal Resection Volume
- IQI 02 Pancreatic Resection Volume
- IQI 04 Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) Repair Volume
- IQI 05 Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) Volume
- IQI 06 Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (PCI) Volume
- IQI 07 Carotid Endarterectomy Volume
- IQI 13 Craniotomy Mortality Rate
- IQI 14 Hip Replacement Mortality Rate
Patient Safety Indicators:
- PSI 16 Transfusion Reaction Count
Pediatric Quality Indicators:
- NQI 01 Neonatal Iatrogenic Pneumothorax Rate
- PDI 02 Pressure Ulcer Rate
- PDI 03 Retained Surgical Item or Unretrieved Device Fragment Count
- PDI 06 RACHS-1 Pediatric Heart Surgery Mortality Rate
- PDI 07 RACHS-1 Pediatric Heart Surgery Volume
- PDI 11 Postoperative Wound Dehiscence Rate
- PDI 13 Transfusion Reaction Count
- PDI 17 Perforated Appendix Admission Rate
- PDI 19 Pediatric Safety for Selected Indicators Composite
Five (5) themes became the underlying basis for retirement:
- Limited evidence base in the literature on the use of these indicators for quality improvement
- Rarity of events – some indicators measure events that are so rare that the measure is no longer reliable or relevant for quality improvement
- Advancement in medical technology – practice changes in terms of both where and how care is provided affect the validity and reliability of these indicators for quality improvement
- Significant analytical work for refinement – some of these indicators would require significant analytical work, such as conducting validation work, and improvement of the specifications for ICD-10 CM/PCS for the purpose of quality improvement
- Volume indicators –consensus amongst the evidence and TEP that volume indicators as standalone indicators are not useful for quality improvement. (However, users interested in volume will be able to calculate this number from the mortality rates denominators.)