Inpatient Version 4.0a of the Specifications Manual has been made available on QualityNet, effective for discharges 1/1/2012 through 6/30/2012. This release reflects the following:
-Four retired inpatient measures (AMI-4 Adult Smoking Cessation Advice/Counseling, HF-4 Adult Smoking Cessation Advice/Counseling, PN-4 Adult Smoking Cessation/Counseling and PN-5c Timing of Receipt of Initial Antibiotic Following Hospital Arrival).
-Four suspended inpatient measures (AMI-1 Aspirin at Arrival, AMI-3 ACEI/ARB for Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction and SCIP-Inf-6 Appropriate Hair Removal), whereby data collection for these measures has been suspended, but can be submitted to CMS voluntarily.
-Medication table changes: for VTE Prophylaxis Options for Surgery, added: Oral Factor Xa for Elective Total Knee and Elective Total Hip Surgeries and for Prophylactic Antibiotic Regimen Selection for Surgery, added: Principal Procedure Code of Hysterectomy with an Other Procedure Code of Colon Surgery found in Appendix A, Table 5.03.
To see all the changes included in Version 4.0a, with additional and revised ICD-9 codes, view the Release Notes .
The FY 2012 IPPS Final Rule, Federal Register Vol. 76, No.160, includes several new Hospital IQR requirements:
-New CDC/NHSN- Based Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) CAUTI & SSI measures. Collection begins with January 1, 2012 events (page 51617 - 51618) for FY 2014 payment determination.
-New Structural Measure, Participation in a Systematic Database for General Surgery (page 51627).
-New CDC/NHSN-Based Healthcare Associated Infection (HAI) MRSA, C. difficile, & Healthcare Personnel (HCP) Influenza Vaccination measures. Collection begins with January 1, 2013 discharges (page 51629 - 51633) for FY 2015 payment determination.
-New Chart-Abstracted measures to include the Stroke Measure Set (page 51633) and the VTE Measure Set (page 51634). Collection begins with January 1, 2013 discharges.
To view the specific Hospital IQR, Section IV, go to pages 51605 through 51660 of the Federal Register at the following link (downloading this document will take several minutes):
http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2011-08-18/pdf/2011-19719.pdf
A total of 2,775 QUEST questions were processed during the month of July, 2011. Click here to view the July Revisions by Topic and QUEST ID#. To search for the revised question & answer, go to QualityNet QUEST directly, insert the QUEST ID# and perform a search. Keep the 'Topic' description area set at "All Topics".
A change has been made, effective with the recent release of the FY 2012 IPPS Final Rule, from previous years, regarding the FY 2012 APU Decisions and Reconsideration/Appeals Process. In the past, Hospitals that did not meet the requirements of the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program had until November 1st to submit a reconsideration request to CMS. Hospitals now, will only have 30 days from the date identified on the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Annual Payment Update Notification Letter provided to hospital CEOs, to submit an appeal to CMS, for Hospital IQR Program decisions.
With the start of the CMS 10th Statement of Work (SOW) on August 1, 2011, IPRO is now assisting hospitals with the Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting (OQR) Program, in conjunction with FMQAI, which will remain the primary Support Contractor for this work, for the next several month's. As we move forward to helping you with all aspects of the Hospital OQR Program, we are making available several documents, which we hope you will find useful:
-Comparison Between Hospital IQR & OQR Programs
-Comparison Between Inpatient and Outpatient Measures Crosswalk
-Comparison Between Hospital IQR & OQR Data Elements
-Hospital OQR Program Submission Deadlines
