By Patty Enrado, Editor
A division of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of Clinical Standards & Quality is developing quality measures that can be reported directly out of electronic health records.
The Quality Measurement & Health Assessment Group’s (QMHAG) initiative is in support of the use of EHRs, said Michael Rapp, MD, JD, FACEP, director of the Quality Measurement and Health Assessment Group, and Daniel Green, MD, medical officer of the Division of Ambulatory Care and Measure Management.
Rapp and Green will present their education session 6, “CMS Quality Measures for Today and the Future,” Monday, March 1, at 9:45 AM – 10:45 AM, in Room B302.
The HITECH Act has highlighted healthcare technology interoperability, with quality measures that can be reported directly from EHRs as one of the basic functionalities, Rapp said. They will highlight two current CMS efforts, the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) and Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Public Update (RHQDAPU), and discuss how CMS is developing quality measures with an eye to the future of healthcare, said Green.
“This presentation is especially relevant for IT professionals, clinicians, private practice and hospital administration, EHR vendors, quality improvement professionals and eligible professionals, since it will positively change the way quality measures are collected in the future,” Rapp said.
Attendees should leave with an understanding of the PQRI and RHQDAPU programs and the focus that the QMHAG group plays in the greater healthcare arena, said Green.