These Utilization indicators (i.e., procedure rates per 100,000 population by county) highlight questions of overuse, underuse, or misuse. The procedures being examined are ones for which the literature suggests that use varies significantly across hospitals and areas.
Higher or lower rates of use in these indicators, therefore,
commonly represent inappropriate or inefficient delivery of care which can
result in worse outcomes, higher costs, or both. These indicators are measured as rates, such as “Coronary Artery
Bypass Graft per 100,000 population” and “Percutaneous Transluminal Coronary
Angioplasty per 100,000 population”.
For the four area-based utilization indicators, geographic areas are defined at the county level.
The indicators in the IQI module are listed in Appendix A of the “Guide to Inpatient Quality Indicators” (http://www.qualityindicators.ahrq.gov/iqi_download.htm) which you can reference for a more complete technical definition of each indicator.