MIPS 2019 is in full swing! In case you missed it, there are several changes to the rules around MIPS eligibility this year. If you weren’t eligible last year you may be this year.

CMS included a handful of newly eligible titles and also established one more criterion for eligibility. Additionally, even if you are not eligible, you may still voluntarily report in order to get rewarded for your performance.

Major deadlines for reporting to the CMS Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program are rapidly approaching, but it's not game over just yet! Power-up your education by transporting into the Super IQR World.

Navigate through pipe portals, underground dungeons, lava and open water to avoid gaps in your submissions. What obstacles will you encounter on your way to the Castle of Submission Success? Will you earn some cash (or gold coins) on your journey? Or will you be defeated by the big, bad CMS boss (don't tell CMS we said that). There’s only one way to find out— grab your red hat and let's get started!

Have you heard about the new hybrid measure from CMS? In the 2020 IQR proposed rule, the hybrid measure is on track to go from voluntary to mandatory by 2023. And what’s more is that your measure performance will be publicly reported on Hospital Compare shortly thereafter.

CMS requires eCQMs to be submitted as a part of successfully completing your Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) program requirements. In this post, we review the 2019 eCQM requirements for the IQR program. Watch the video below for a quick overview.

ALSO SEE: 2019 eCQM requirements for The Joint Commission ORYX® initiative for quality improvement program. 

Over the course of the last decade, there has been a significant shift in the way hospitals track and assess their quality measures. Ten years ago, most hospitals were significantly burdened with dozens of Core measures that they were required to abstract. When eCQMs (Electronic Clinical Quality Measures) came on to the scene no one really knew what to make of them or how much effort should be given to these measures. Now in 2019, eCQMs have become much more common.

Medisolv wanted to find out if there were any interesting differences in the way hospitals think about their Core measures versus their eCQMs. We heard from a lot of people in the quality department, many directors of quality and the abstractors too. Below are the results from our website survey. How does your hospital compare?

Achieving a successful eCQM submission is no easy feat. It is a year-round undertaking that requires time, organizational collaboration and plenty of patience. But don’t get too bogged down, because the work that you put in to fulfill your eCQM duties will ultimately help to improve the quality of care offered at your organization.

It’s never too early to start prepping for your next round of eCQM submissions. Let's start by reviewing the 2019 eCQM requirements for The Joint Commission ORYX® initiative for quality improvement program.

We break down the major requirements in the following short video—or you can read all about it below.  

Play the 2019 MIPS Mind Game!

How much do you know about the MIPS 2019 requirements? Do you think you could achieve a passing grade on a 15-point quiz?

Put your MIPS knowledge to the test by answering questions about eligibility, payments, exemptions and important deadlines.  

CMS dropped the 2020 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule, which focuses on measure adjustments to reduce quality reporting burden, supporting quality care in rural areas and revising policies related to new technology add-on payments.

If you haven’t been able to get through the grueling 1,800+ pages, don’t fret. We have you covered with the highlights of the proposed changes below!

Let’s take a look at what CMS has in store for us in 2020.

In 1986 my 18-year old sister was in a rollover car accident near Breckenridge, Colorado. She was air lifted to a trauma center in Denver with a closed head injury and a severely fractured left femur. After three days on a ventilator in a medically induced coma, she awoke with no permanent brain injury. Our frightened family was overjoyed. She was still in traction in the ICU to stabilize her femur until we could get her to surgery the following day. 

“Sepsis is an easy measure to abstract…” said no health care professional ever. In a previous post, we reviewed the many challenges and complications that come with reporting the sepsis measure. But how exactly did sepsis come to be in the first place? When and where did sepsis originate?