Documentation

Below is a list of all the documentation relating to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Quality Indicators (QIs). Some of the files below are in PDF format, help with PDF files is available.

Technical Documentation

New (September 30, 2004)
This document is written for current or potential users of the AHRQ QIs who may be considering applying the QIs for purposes other than national tracking or quality improvement. It is intended as a guide for individuals and organizations evaluating the QIs and administrative data for use in public reporting of hospital-specific quality or for payment (provider selection or pay-for-performance) programs.

• Guidance for Using the AHRQ Quality Indicators for Hospital-level Public Reporting or Payment
  • Wordฎ format — 506 KB
  • PDF format — 762 KB | (PDF help)
  
  
• Appendix A: Current Uses of AHRQ Quality Indicators and Considerations for Hospital-level Reporting
  • Wordฎ format — 128 KB
  • PDF format — 273 KB | (PDF help)
  
  
• Appendix B: Public Reporting Evaluation Framework—Comparison of Recommended Evaluation Criteria in Five Existing National Frameworks
  • Word® format — 55 KB
  • PDF format — 96 KB | (PDF help)

The technical review of research underlying the development of the quality indicators is available here.  For research pertaining to the Prevention Quality Indicators and the Inpatient Quality see the Refinement of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Quality Indicators.  For research concerning the Patient Safety Indicators see the Measures of Patient Safety report.

• Refinement of the HCUP Quality Indicators
  (Technical Review), May 2001
  • Zipped — 749 KB
  • File Inventory
• Refinement of the HCUP Quality Indicators
  (Summary), May 2001
  • Word® Format — 255 KB
  • PDF Format — 260 KB | (PDF help)
• Measures of Patient Safety Based on Hospital Administrative Data - The Patient Safety Indicators, August 2002
  • Zipped — 825 KB
  • File Inventory
• Measures of Patient Safety Based on Hospital Administrative Data - The Patient Safety Indicators (Summary), August 2002
  • Word® format — 159 KB
  • PDF Format — 171 KB | (PDF help)

Fact Sheets

Information on the main facts of the AHRQ QIs is below.

• Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs) Brochure, November 2001
  • PDF Format — 622 KB | (PDF help)
• Inpatient Quality Indicators (IQIs) Brochure, May 2002
  • PDF Format — 957 KB | (PDF help)

Software User Guides

The user guides provide information on the individual QIs to help enable their use.

• Guide to Prevention Quality Indicators, January 2004
  • Word® format, zipped — 1.08 MB
  • PDF format — 701 KB | (PDF help)
• Guide to Inpatient Quality Indicators, July 2004
  • Word® format, zipped — 1.25 MB
  • PDF format — 3.94 MB | (PDF help)
• Guide to Patient Safety Indicators, May 2003
  • Word® format, zipped — 961 KB
  • PDF format — 1.12 MB | (PDF help)

Software Documentation

The software documentation describes the procedures for implementing the AHRQ QI modules and highlights features of the analytic approach of particular interest to users.

• PQI SAS® Software Documentation, January 2004
  • Word® format — 507 KB
  • PDF format — 525 KB | (PDF help)
• PQI SPSS® Software Documentation, January 2004
  • Word® format — 489 KB
  • PDF format — 490 KB | (PDF help)
    
• IQI SAS® Software Documentation, July 2004
  • Word® format — 1.93 MB
  • PDF format — 2.48 MB | (PDF help)
• IQI SPSS® Software Documentation, July 2004
  • Word® format — 1.47 MB
  • PDF format — 2.36 MB | (PDF help)
    
• PSI SAS® Software Documentation, May 2003
  • Word® format — 1.25 MB
  • PDF format — 784 KB | (PDF help)
• PSI SPSS® Software Documentation, May 2003
  • Word® format — 1.23 MB
  • PDF format — 968 MB | (PDF help)