Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS)
What is the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS)?
Created and periodically updated by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) is a set of metrics that enables individuals and businesses to accurately compare the features and performance of different healthcare plans.
Comprehensive in scope, the HEDIS provides metrics for all types of care, including chronic, acute, and preventative. Different types of care settings, such as physician offices and hospitals, are also covered. Finally, the HEDIS provides metrics for different common health problems, including cancer, obesity, and others.
Why is the Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set (HEDIS) important in healthcare?
The specifics of a healthcare plan are often highly complex, especially for an individual who does not inherently understand complicated medical terminology and general health insurance verbiage. Along with lacking the knowledge to accurately assess healthcare plans, many entities lack time to acquire this type of knowledge in the first place.
Through the metrics given by the HEDIS, consumers and other entities have the opportunity to quickly cut through the complexities of the industry and arrive at a healthcare plan that works for them in particular, both in terms of coverage and costs for that specific coverage.