The Prevention Index: using technology to improve quality assessment.

Objective: To improve quality of care assessment for preventive medical services and reduce assessment costs through development of a comprehensive prevention quality assessment methodology based on electronic medical records (EMRs).

Data Sources: Random sample of 775 adult and 201 child members of a large nonprofit managed care system.

Study Design: Problems with current, labor-intensive quality measures were identified and remedied using EMR capabilities.

The safety net: a cost-effective approach to improving breast and cervical cancer screening.

Purpose: The purposes of the study were (1). to assess the cost-effectiveness of three interventions to deliver breast and cervical cancer screening to women unscreened for >or=3 years and (2). to determine the relation of an invasive cervical cancer diagnosis to the interval since the last true screening test.