Evaluating Quality of Care for Rheumatoid Arthritis for the Population of Alberta Using System-level Performance Measures

Objective. We evaluated 4 national rheumatoid arthritis (RA) system-level performance measures (PM) in Alberta, Canada. Methods. Incident and prevalent RA cases >= 16 years of age since 2002 were identified using a validated case definition applied in provincial administrative data. Performance was ascertained through analysis of health data between fiscal years 2012/13-2015/16. Measures evaluated were as follows: proportion of incident RA eases with a rheumatologist visit within 1 year of first RA diagnosis code (PM1); proportion of prevalent RA patients who were dispensed a disease-modifying antirheumatic drug (DMARD) annually (PM2); time from first visit with an RA code to DMARD dispensation and proportion of incident cases where the 14-day benchmark for dispensation was met (PM3); and proportion of patients seen in annual follow-up (PM4). Results. There were 31,566 prevalent and 2730 incident RA cases (2012/13). Over the analysis period, the proportion of patients seen by a rheumatologist within 1 year of onset (PM1) increased from 55% to 63%; however, the proportion of RA patients dispensed DMARD annually (PM2) remained low at 43%. While the median time to DMARD from first visit date in people who received DMARD improved over time from 39 days to 28 days, only 38-41% of patients received treatment within the 14-day benchmark (PM3). The percentage of patients seen in yearly follow-up (PM4) varied between 73-80%. Conclusion. The existing Alberta healthcare system for RA is suboptimal, indicating barriers to accessing specialty care and treatment. Our results inform quality improvement initiatives required within the province to meet national standards of care.

Automated summary

In Alberta, the proportion of RA patients seen by a rheumatologist within 1 year of diagnosis has increased, but the proportion of patients dispensed DMARD annually remains low. Although the median time to DMARD from first visit date has improved, a low percentage of patients receive treatment within the 14-day benchmark. The percentage of patients seen in annual follow-up varies between 73-80%.