Learn why some doctor's offices (or medical groups) are not included in the quality and cost scores on this page:
The office doesn't have enough doctors or primary care practitioners. An office or medical group must have at least 3 primary care professionals (doctors, nurse practitioners, or physician assistants) who provide care in order to be included.
The office didn't treat enough patients for the topic on this page. Scores are shown only if an office or medical group has treated at least 30 patients who meet requirements for that topic during the time period for reporting.
If the phrase 'Results not available' appears, it means the office did not have enough patients for one of the topics on the page, but did have enough patients for other topics on the page.
If the phrase 'Results under review' appears, it means that a doctor's office or medical group asked to have their scores be reconsidered because they believe the score may be inaccurate. The phrase 'Results under review' means the score is still being evaluated.
*Medicare fee-for-service data is included in the following:
Women’s Health: Mammograms (Breast Cancer Screening)
Diabetes Care: Blood Sugar Test
What are cost index scores?
The cost index measures the price of services and the number and type of services that a patient uses.
This score shows whether a doctor’s patients are getting care that is:
Lower than Average Cost – cost is below the state average
Average Cost – cost is equivalent to the state average
Higher than Average Cost – cost is above the state average
These services can be received at a primary care doctor’s office, or another location like a hospital or specialist office. Primary care doctors’ offices provide their patients with basic and preventive care, and often manage referrals to other services. This measure includes all the services a patient gets across settings to show how primary care doctors are managing costs associated with their patients.
Note: Quality data is from January 1, 2020 to December 31, 2020. The measurement period varies by measure, but in general, the data come from 2020.
Cost data is from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018. Due to year to year differences in results, the Total Cost Index has been averaged over two years.
The cost index measures the price of services and the number and type of services that a patient uses. These services can be received at a primary care doctor’s office, or another location like a hospital or specialist office. Primary care doctors’ offices provide their patients with basic and preventive care, and often manage referrals to other services. This measure includes all the services a patient gets across settings to show how primary care doctors are managing costs associated with their patients.
For this score – what is meant by Lower than Average Cost, Average Cost, and Higher than Average Cost?
This score shows whether a doctor’s patients are getting care that is:
Lower than Average Cost – cost is below the state average
Average Cost – cost is equivalent to the state average
Higher than Average Cost – cost is above the state average
We calculate the scores for “Quality Composite Index” for each doctor’s office by measuring and combining two components: the quality of preventive care and chronic illness services the doctor provides, and how often their patients use the emergency department or are hospitalized when it could have been avoided.
For this score – what is meant by better, average or below?
This score shows whether doctor’s offices are providing care that is:
Better – quality is above the average of doctors’ offices in the state
Average – quality scored close to the middle of doctors’ offices in the state
Below – quality is below average of doctors’ offices in the state
Results for doctors' offices and medical groups may be viewed alphabetically or based on score. Unless otherwise specified, results are automatically sorted based on score, from highest to lowest. For Heart Disease and Asthma Medication, the order is based on the actual percentage that was used to place doctors' offices and groups into the categories: "Better," "Average," or "Below." This percentage is not available on the website.
When there are multiple topics on one page (such as mammogram, pap test and chlamydia test for women's health), the sort order is based on the average of the scores ("Better," "Average," or "Below") for each topic rather than the underlying percentage. For the purposes of calculating the sorting order for these topics, a "Better" score is three points, an "Average" score is two points and "Below" is one point. If "Results not available" is the score for one of the topics, that score is excluded for the purposes of sorting.
In situations where clinics or medical groups are tied on the sort order, they are listed alphabetically.
