ASA QCDR Adds 18 Quality Reporting Measures

Physician anesthesiologists who participate in the American Society of Anesthesiologists’ (ASA) Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) have 18 new reporting measures to choose from, the ASA announced.

The new measures will allow anesthesiologists to report on items “that matter to their patients and their practices,” according to J.P. Abenstein, MD, ASA president. Some of the items include patient temperature management before, during and after surgery; timely administration of antibiotics; and completion of surgical safety checklists prior to anesthesia. The two Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and 16 non-PQRS measures were developed by the ASA and the Anesthesia Quality Institute (AQI), and approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

“In a health care world that is moving quickly toward quality-based payment, this is an important step for the Society to help its members and anesthesia professionals everywhere,” said Dr. Abenstein, in a press release.

PQRS is a voluntary reporting program that uses incentive payments and payment adjustments to encourage eligible professionals to report quality information. The QCDR is a CMS-approved reporting mechanism available for PQRS and tracks measures to improve patient care and safety. Physician anesthesiologists who do not satisfactorily participate in PQRS through a QCDR for 2015 will receive a 2% payment penalty in 2017 and other payment adjustments. The CMS will be phasing out claims-based reporting in favor of registry-based reporting, the ASA reported.

“The QCDR designation has been pivotal to improving quality reporting,” said AQI Executive Director Richard Dutton, MD, MBA. “ASA can now select and develop its own physician performance measures, rather than being limited to the measures approved by CMS. With 36 measures covering a variety of anesthesia cases and patient types, ASA and AQI are well positioned to help providers improve patient care, as well as avoid penalties for 2015 reporting.”