October 3, 2011 
Do you know what the Medicare Star Ratings are? If not, you might want to review the Kaiser Family Foundation brief from last year.
Basically, the star ratings provide individuals with a quality rating across numerous dimension on a Medicare plan. And, they are helping to drive the pay-for-performance (P4P) focus across healthcare. This year’s changes include several adherence metrics and have brought the total diabetes measures up to 7. And, if you happen to be one of the few 5-star Medicare plans, you will be able to have open enrollment all year not simply during the AEP period from 10/15-12/7.
Here’s a quick summary of the seven (lots of opportunities to work with communications to improve ratings and outcomes):
| Measure | Summary |
| Cholesterol Screening | Percentage of diabetics with an LDL test |
| Eye Exam | Percentage of diabetics with an eye exam |
| Kidney Disease Monitoring | Percentage of diabetics with a kidney function test |
| Blood Sugar Controlled | Percentage of diabetics with an A1c test showing their blood sugar under control |
| Cholesterol Controlled | Percentage of diabetics with an acceptable LDL value in their cholesterol test |
| Treatment | Percentage of diabetics with both a diabetic medication and a hypertension medication that are getting an ACEI or an ARB |
| Adherence to Oral Rxs | An average Proportion of Days Covered (PDC) greater than 80% |
We all know the statistics on diabetes so hopefully this will help to improve outcomes. If you’re interested in how Silverlink helps plans with Star Ratings – go here.
Enabling Healthy Decisions 
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