The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently released the newest version of its comprehensive Quality Compass database.

For the first time, the database includes a measure of flu shots given to adults aged 50-64 last year. The metric is important, reports the NCQA, because influenza hospitalizes 120,000 older adults and kills 40,000 people annually. As a result, the number of flu shots administered in a particular area gives health care consumers, insurers and providers an idea of the population’s general health.

“Quality Compass gives the health care market what it needs most—clear, easy to understand information about performance,” says NCQA Executive Vice President Greg Pawlson. “It’s a buyers guide for anyone who has to make a decision about which health plan to contract with.”

The database also includes information on NCQA accreditation and plan-specific results on HEDIS and CAHPS measures, data sets that measure clinical performance and member satisfaction, respectively. It also allows employers to directly compare a health plan’s HEDIS and CAHPS scores to competitors or to national and regional benchmarks.

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