To better understand providers’ SRI prevention performance and reporting behavior, DDS gathers and reports the rate of incidents on a quarterly basis. Both the SRI frequency and the number of individuals each provider serves are evaluated.

To account for providers’ size (# of individuals served) and make “apples to apples” comparison we started using SRI rate. For calculating SRI rate we use the following formula: the number of SRIs is divided by the number of individuals served. As a result, DDS compares providers with different number of individuals served by fiscal quarter.

For example, a provider serving 10 individuals and having 1 SRI would have an SRI rate of 0.1 (1/10=0.1). Another provider serving 100 individuals and having 10 SRIs would have the same SRI rate of 0.1 (10/100=0.1). Comparing the SRI rates of these two providers suggests that for the given reporting period their SRI frequency was the same (0.1 SRI per person per quarter)

SRI Rate Study

DDS conducted a statistical study of the quarterly SRI rate data which included 15 quarters from October 2008 through June 2012. Providers serving less than 5 individuals were excluded from the study. The study results indicate that the providers with the quarterly SRI rate of 0.3 and up account for the top 15% of data (above 85th percentile). The results also suggest that 20% (below 20th percentile) of data lies below the SRI rate of 0.05. Consequently, 65% of data is clustered between 0.05 (20th percentile) and 0.3 (85th percentile).

SRI Rate Ranges and Interpretation

Based on the findings we identified 3 tentative SRI rate ranges which may provide more insights into providers SRI prevention performance and reporting behavior:

• Below 0.05 (20th percentile)
  • Providers which fall in this range have less than typical SRI rates
  • Possible Interpretation: 1) exceptional performance or 2) underreporting or 3) characteristics of people supported
• Above 0.3 (85th percentile)
  • Providers which fall in this range have higher than typical SRI rates
  • Possible Interpretation: 1) poor performance or 2) possibly typical performance but need follow-up or 3) characteristics of people supported
• Typical range between 0.05 (20th percentile) and 0.3 (85th percentile)
  • Providers which fall in this range have typical SRI rates
  • Possible Interpretation: typical SRI performance