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I keep reading articles in which people discuss “quality measures in the outpatient wound center” as if they actually existed. I thought I’d post the quality measures that can currently be reported from an outpatient clinic.
Since nearly all of them are designed for the emergency department, outpatient surgery center, or imaging center, there are only 3  quality measures on the list that a wound center could report, and they are:
OP -12:The ability for providers to receive lab data electronically into the EHR system as discreet searchable data
OP-17: Tracking clinical results between visits
OP- 27: Influenza vaccination coverage among healthcare personnel
Click Here > for Complete listing of Hospital OQR Program Measures for CY 2017, 2018, and Subsequent Payment Determinations
CMS has released its proposed changes to the Hospital Based Outpatient Prospective Payment System. https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2016-16098.pdf
Since it is 760 pages, here is link to fact sheet:   https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2016-Fact-sheets-items/2016-07-06.html
Seven new quality measures have been proposed, two claim based and five OAS CAHPS measures. Of the 7 proposed measures, there are probably 2 that a wound center could use, which are the patient surveys of the facilities and staff and whether the patient would recommend the facility.
I have listed all 7 proposed measures below, but I just thought you would like to know what the options were for reporting quality if you are one of the more than 1,000 hospital based outpatient wound centers. That’s why an increasing number of wound centers are actually putting the USWR quality measures into their hospital EHR and using them to monitor quality in the clinic, rather than as part of the physician’s PQRS reporting.
I am going to submit a comment to CMS asking them to allow wound centers that bill using the OPPS rules to be allowed to use USWR quality measures. If you would like to submit a similar comment, you can do that using this link.
Comments may be submitted electronically through our e-Regulation website at: https://www.cms.gov/Regulations-and-Guidance/Regulations-and-Policies/eRulemaking/index.html.
Proposed measures in the OPPS regulation:
Claim based measures
(1)    OP – 35:  Admissions and Emergency Department Visits for Patients Receiving Outpatient Chemotherapy
(2)    OP – 36:  Hospital Visits after Hospital Outpatient Surgery (NQF #2687)
Survey based measures
(1)    OP – 37a:  OAS CAHPS – About Facilities and Staff;
(2)    OP – 37b:  OAS CAHPS – Communication about Procedure;
(3)    OP – 37c:  OAS – CAHPS – Preparation for Discharge and Recovery
(4)    OP – 37d:  OAS CAHPS – Overall Rating of Facility;
(5)    OP – 37e:  OAS CAHPS – Recommendation of Facility.
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Caroline Fife, MD
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