Physicians providing care to Medicare patients this year will face a 2 percent payment penalty in 2016. As the AMA works to lessen this burden, you can take advantage of a new reporting option to improve patient outcomes while simultaneously lessening your chances of incurring penalties.
Clinical data registries have the potential to provide meaningful clinical information to improve quality and value of health care, according to a recent report (log in) from the AMA Council on Medical Service. The National Quality Registry Network (NQRN), a voluntary network of organizations that operate registries and others interested in using registry information, is coordinating the nation’s 100-plus registries to ensure they are used appropriately and the collected data is readily available to physicians in a useful format.
Registries differ depending on the intended use of the data they collect, but generally they are used to:
- Monitor the quality of care that individual patients receive
- Track clinical and cost effectiveness of treatments
- Measure processes and outcomes of care
- Report performance to clinicians and payers
- Support clinical research
In an NQRN registry landscape survey of 32 registries, more than three-quarters of the registries collected national-level data related to a specific disease or condition. Most registry stewards use the data for performance improvement and comparative effectiveness research.
“Well designed and managed clinical data registries can provide physicians with critical information to help them provide quality care to their individual patients,” the report said.
The AMA has been actively engaged in efforts to advance the use of clinical data registries. Through its work, the AMA helped shape language in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 that allows for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to add the reporting option of a Qualified Clinical Data Registry to fulfill the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) reporting requirement.
Under this option, those eligible to participate in PQRS are able to report measures selected by the Qualified Clinical Data Registry as a substitute to the traditional PQRS list of measures with the intent of providing physicians credit for their quality improvement activities and reduce the PQRS reporting burden. Get a list of CMS’ Qualified Clinical Data Registries.
Through the NQRN, the AMA will continue to encourage the development of clinical registries to facilitate quality improvement and research that result in better health care, improved population health and lower costs.
It’s good news that CMS is willing to accept participation in Qualified Clinical Data Registries as an alternative pathway for PQRS. The relationship with CMS “creates a unique opportunity to promote and expand the use of registries as a physician-led alternative to data collection and quality reporting mechanisms developed by government regulators,” the report said.
Physician leadership is crucial to ensuring these registries continue to grow. With input from practicing physicians, registries will be designed and used in the best ways to enhance patient care and the physician-patient relationship. By adopting the report as policy, the AMA encourages national medical specialty societies, state medical associations and other physician groups to join the NQRN to advance the development and use of clinical data registries. The policy also supports multi-stakeholder funding of registries, and calls for flexibility in registry development and implementation.
