CMS released clinical quality measures for seven different specialties, including gastroenterology.
Here are five highlights.
1. CMS worked with the American Gastroenterological Association, American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, American Medical Association and Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement to develop the quality measures.
2. The six quality measures for gastroenterology include:
• Appropriate follow-up interval for normal colonoscopy in average risk patients
• Colonoscopy interval for patients with a history of adenomatous polyps
• Screening colonoscopy adenoma detection rate
• Age-appropriate screening colonoscopy
• Inflammatory bowel disease preventative care: corticosteroid related iatrogenic injury
• IBD: assessment of hepatitis B virus status before initiating anti-TNF therapy
3. Additionally, there are two hepatitis C measures for the gastroenterology core measure set including:
• Screening for hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with hepatitis C cirrhosis
• One-time screening for HCV in patients at risk
4. The quality measures are designed to support consumer decision making, promote evidence-based measurement, increase quality and decrease providers collection burden and cost.
5. "AGA is committed to working with CMS, AHIP and other organizations to develop and validate outcomes-based quality metrics, which are vital to enhance quality and develop fair and appropriate reimbursement for the practice of gastroenterology and hepatology. We will also continue working with EHR vendors to incorporate these and future metrics into EHR systems. The goal of the integration with EHR systems is ultimately to enhance documentation of quality in the practice, which will be integral to the future of value-based payments," said AGA president Michael Camiller, MD, in an AGA report.
Click here to learn more about CMS' Core Quality Measures Collaborative.