Roji Intel Blog

Theresa Hush 0
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ACO ReportingFuture of Health CarePQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingRegistry ScienceValue-Based Payment Modifier
September 15, 2015

No More Status Quo: How the New CDR Will Change Health Care

As CMS streamlines its Value-Based Reimbursement programs, the pressure is on for providers to participate. A better foundation is needed to support those changes, so providers can actually succeed. And Medicare’s expansion of Clinical Data Registries (CDRs) may just be the answer. CDRs could be the tipping point for transforming health care. Here’s why: With better capabilities for performance measurement, more comprehensive databases, and expertise for more advanced outcomes analyses and research, CDRs can provide tools that have been missing for all stakeholders—providers, health plans and consumers. What’s a CDR and Why Is It Different? The Clinical Data Registry has…
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Dave Halpert 0
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Alternative Payment Models (APM)AttributionMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Qualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
September 1, 2015

Mastering MSPB: How “Episode” Care Calculations Make or Break Your Revenues

The whole may be greater than the sum of its parts—but how those parts each contribute to the whole is key to a new Medicare calculation of episode costs. If you aren’t paying attention to the total cost of an entire “episode” of care for your patients—including that rendered by others—your future revenues may take a hit. Enter Medicare Spending Per Beneficiary (MSPB), a component of CMS’s Value-Based Payment Modifier (VBPM) calculations that is crucial to your bottom line. MSPB is a measure of charges per episode of care that looks at costs immediately prior to, during and following a hospital…
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Dave Halpert 0
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AttributionPQRS ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
August 25, 2015

How to Boost Your VBPM with ICD-10

With five weeks until ICD-10 becomes official, take note: Your transition strategy must include PQRS and the Value-Based Payment Modifier (VBPM). Neglecting VBPM in your short-term plan may lead to long-term penalties. That now goes for everybody, whether you helm an Academic Medical Center or run a small practice. October 1, 2015, marks the starting date of the new coding set for diagnoses and inpatient procedures. ICD-10’s increased specificity dovetails with how medicine is practiced today, versus the 36-year-old ICD-9 coding. Given a choice between implementation and lost revenues, practices will have no option but to make the transition. As…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACO ReportingPQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
August 18, 2015

Radiologists’ Tool Kit: How to Succeed in PQRS and VBPM

When it comes to PQRS reporting, it’s not easy being a radiologist. How can you fulfill PQRS reporting requirements and avoid jeopardizing future value-based payments? Many radiologists have found themselves backed into a PQRS corner—not enough measures to report, and those measures that can be reported have some tricky requirements. Similar to anesthesiologists, radiologists practice in a variety of settings and perform different types of procedures, according to sub-specialty. Depending on the procedures you perform, the vast majority of PQRS measures may not be applicable to you—not only are they clinically irrelevant, but you couldn’t report them even if you…
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Dave Halpert 0
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PQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
August 11, 2015

Medicare’s 2016 Proposed Rule: What Do You Need to Know?

Is PQRS dead? That’s the question we’ve been hearing, in the wake of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), which outlined a new program for merit-based payments. With the release of the 2016 Proposed Rule, the answer is a resounding “No.” The Proposed Rule is exactly that—proposed, rather than final. Nevertheless, historically speaking, there is little deviation between the Proposed Rule and the Final Rule, and so those with a stake in the matter (which presumably includes you, if you’re reading this), should begin digesting these 813 pages to see the direction the program will take…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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ACO ReportingFuture of Health CareValue-Based Payment Modifier
July 28, 2015

Are Your Specialists and ACO Ready for the Referral Revolution? Part 1

The practice of physician-determined referrals to specialists is deeply embedded in the culture of medicine. But it no longer works under Value-Based Health Care. A revolution in referrals is underway, one that will dramatically change physician alignment and engagement in ACOs and other Pay for Performance models. Outcome measures can distinguish the performance of one specialist versus another—and this performance data is available to both health systems and physicians. We all know that pure comparative performance data has a lot of flaws. But Medicare is publishing provider-specific performance for PQRS and group performance for ACOs, and calculating comparative scores under the…
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Theresa Hush 0
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ACO ReportingPQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
July 14, 2015

Will Medicare’s Published Physician Quality Data Push Your Patients Away?

CMS isn’t the only group scrutinizing your quality and cost data any more. As the next step toward value-based health care, Medicare has begun publishing provider performance data for PQRS under “Physician Compare.” Now patients and their families can make their own data-driven choices about health care providers with an online search. The website is a game-changer. Performance variation between providers is startling. There are 50 provider groups with performance at or lower than 65 percent for at least one published measure. By contrast, a handful of groups show all four measures over 95 percent. The 2013 data are limited and do…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACO ReportingPQRS ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
July 7, 2015

Anesthesiologists’ Best Practices: How to Succeed with Medicare PQRS and VBPM

Anesthesiologists across the country are coping with a unique PQRS challenge. Different procedures and settings may mean that some practices do not have the requisite number of measures to meet requirements. Other groups will have enough measures, but the choices may not be obvious. When you have up to 6 percent of your Medicare Part B revenues at risk, you cannot afford to take that chance. Read on to learn how to make the best reporting decisions for your anesthesiology group and avoid Medicare penalties. Like Orthopedists, your specialty focus inherently limits your relevant PQRS measures—except that for Anesthesia, the options are…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACO ReportingPQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
June 30, 2015

Orthopedists’ Survival Kit: How to Succeed with Medicare PQRS and VBPM

Pay for Performance success takes careful thought and management, particularly for specialty practices. Under Medicare’s PQRS and Value-Based Payment Modifier (VBPM), specialties have fewer measures available, which narrows reporting options—making it harder for you to meet PQRS and compare well against your peers. For Orthopedics, this is especially true. Nearly 200 PQRS measures have a Registry reporting option, but many orthopedic surgeons still have a difficult time finding nine measures across three National Quality Strategy (NQS) Domains (including one cross-cutting measure), where performance is good enough to report. All too often, orthopedic surgeons get trapped, reporting on measures where performance…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACO ReportingPopulation HealthQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
June 23, 2015

How to Get Paid for Your Population Health Program: Part 2

If you’ve written off population health initiatives as too expensive, think again. Pay for Performance means just what it says: you need to demonstrate better outcomes than your peers if you expect to reap benefits from Medicare. And, if you fall behind, you’ll risk ACO losses or Value-Based Payment Modifier (VBPM) penalties. As we discussed last week, by focusing on Medicare’s programs and reimbursable Medicare Wellness Visits, your organization can build a solid foundation for your population health program—and get paid for it. Medicare’s new Chronic Care Management Services offer another cost-effective way to build out your population health program.…
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