This conference will bring together experts in the field of health care quality to provide the input needed to establish a private sector manage care data repository and monitoring system to evaluate changes in health care quality over time. A group of 18 national experts in the field of quality measurement and managed care will serve as panel members to provide technical expertise and advice on the development of a quality monitoring system for managed care. The conference represents the first steps toward the development of a prototype data repository and managed care monitoring system to effectively monitor and evaluate changes in the private health care delivery system. The panel will evaluate the existing administrative data of United HealthGroup, representing 9.6 million member years of data in 42 markets, and the ability of the system to serve as a demonstration of the utility of such data to address emerging health services research and public policy issues on the quality of managed care. The conference will include specific discussions about creating standards for a quality monitoring system, data structures, variables, and definitions. The goal of such a system is to provide a national barometer of health care quality through real-time reporting and dissemination functions.
