Why is statistical significance for Medical Groups different on the MHQP website?
The MHQP rating system uses a 4-star rating methodology that does not use statistical significance test when comparing the medical group’s rate with the benchmarks. 1 star means the rate is not above benchmarks; 2 stars means the rate is above one benchmark; 3 stars means the rate is above two benchmarks; and 4 stars means the rate is above three benchmarks. The three benchmarks used for comparison are: the MHQP Massachusetts Statewide Rate, the National 90th Percentile, and the National Average. A majority of the quality measures on MHCO are reported with a 3 star rating system: below the state’s average, not different than the state’s average and better than the state’s average. This is a valid approach to differentiate hospitals’ and in this case, medical groups’ performance on specified quality measures. The 3-star rating methodology does use statistical significance test. For each measure, the medical group’s rate is calculated based on a “numerator” that represents the number of
