{"id":2801,"date":"2025-08-01T07:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ncqa.org\/?page_id=2801"},"modified":"2026-01-30T07:53:45","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T12:53:45","slug":"appropriate-testing-for-pharyngitis-cwp","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.ncqa.org\/report-cards\/health-plans\/state-of-health-care-quality-report\/appropriate-testing-for-pharyngitis-cwp\/","title":{"rendered":"Appropriate Testing for Pharyngitis (CWP)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"TextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\" lang=\"EN-US\" xml:lang=\"EN-US\" data-contrast=\"auto\"><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\">The percentage of episodes for <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\">persons<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\"> 3 years and older where the person was diagnosed with <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\">pharyngitis,<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\"> dispensed an <\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\">antibiotic<\/span><span class=\"NormalTextRun SCXW50248243 BCX0\"> and received a group A streptococcus (strep) test for the episode.<\/span><\/span><span class=\"EOP SCXW50248243 BCX0\" data-ccp-props=\"{}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2>Why It Matters<\/h2>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Pharyngitis is one of the most common causes of ambulatory health care utilization and can be caused by both bacterial and viral infection. Pharyngitis is the only condition among upper respiratory infections (URI) where diagnosis is validated easily and objectively through administrative and laboratory data, and it can serve as an important indicator of appropriate antibiotic use among all respiratory tract infections <sup>(1)<\/sup>. While pharyngitis is typically caused by a viral infection, it can also be caused by a bacterial infection of group A streptococcus. To limit unnecessary antibiotic use for pharyngitis caused by viruses, clinical practice guidelines recommend that patients presenting with pharyngitis only receive antibiotics if a group A streptococcal test indicates bacterial infection.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Overuse of antibiotics has been directly linked to the prevalence of antibiotic resistance; promoting judicious use of antibiotics is important to reducing levels of antibiotic resistance <sup>(1)<\/sup>. Clinical practice guidelines recommend group A strep should be tested by a rapid antigen detection test and\/or throat culture, and that patients who test positive should be treated with an appropriate antibiotic at an appropriate dose <sup>(2)<\/sup>. Antibiotic overuse and inappropriate use has been observed in children with pharyngitis in the United States <sup>(3)<\/sup>.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">Organizations have shown effective ways of targeting physicians and members to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing at past HEDIS conferences. Organizations can also work with national and state public health agencies\u2014such as the CDC\u2014to educate and raise awareness with members and physicians on inappropriate antibiotic use.<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-contrast=\"none\">A higher rate indicates better performance (i.e., appropriate testing).<\/span><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;134233117&quot;:false,&quot;134233118&quot;:false,&quot;335559738&quot;:240,&quot;335559739&quot;:240}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-teams=\"true\">Historical Results \u2013 National Averages<\/span><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The percentage of episodes for persons 3 years and older where the person was diagnosed with pharyngitis, dispensed an antibiotic and received a group A streptococcus (strep) test for the episode.\u00a0 Why It Matters Pharyngitis is one of the most common causes of ambulatory health care utilization and can be caused by both bacterial and [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"parent":733,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"page.php","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2801","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Appropriate Testing for Pharyngitis (CWP) - NCQA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Assesses children 2\u201318 years of age who were diagnosed with pharyngitis, dispensed an antibiotic and received a group A streptococcus test for the episode. 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