First line treatment for infantile spasms
Measure Purpose: Ensure rapid and appropriate treatment of infantile spasms (IS)
The numerator: Patients who received any guideline-recommended* first-line therapy as initial treatment for IS as soon as diagnosed, but no later than 1 week after initial, confirmed diagnosis and therapy administered for appropriate length of time
*See full specifications for additional details
is divided by
The denominator: All patients aged 2 weeks to 24 months diagnosed with IS
Exclusions are removed from the denominator for:
- Medical provider identified all three treatments are contraindicated
- Caregiver refuses all three treatments
- Patient is participating in a research trial that precludes the use of these medications
- Presence of an inborn error of metabolism disorder
- Resective epilepsy surgery is recommended as first-line treatment
Key Phrases
Examples of key phrases you could use to meet the measure:
- Guideline recommended therapy within 1 week of IS diagnosis
- Currently prescribed ACTH for IS^
- Currently prescribed high dose prednisolone for IS^
- Currently prescribed VGB for IS^
^The presence of this guideline recommended therapy in the medication list will also meet the measure
Measure Calculation Example
Dr. Diaz had five patients between the ages of 2 weeks to 24 months that were diagnosed with IS from January 1 to December 31 of the measurement year. This is the denominator. One patient caregiver refused all treatments. This patient is removed from the denominator.
Of the remaining four patients, one received guideline recommended therapy. This is the numerator.
Quality of care = 1/(5-1). Dr. Diaz has a score of 25% for this measure.