| CMS Selects Cerner To Participate In Quality Reporting Initiative
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
said it selected Cerner as one of six healthcare information technology
suppliers to participate in a project that will test information
technology solutions to facilitate the submission of Physician Quality
Reporting Initiative (PQRI) measures data gathered from electronic
medical records (EMRs).
The testing project will use the data elements needed
for five PQRI measures (three related to diabetes, one to
coronary-artery disease and one to heart failure). The submission of
data gathered from EMRs may serve as one of several alternative ways
eligible professionals choosing to report PQRI measures could submit
their quality data if CMS decides to move forward with EMR-based
submission in the future.
The PQRI provides financial incentives to healthcare
professionals who report quality data on services provided under the
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. PQRI is a first step toward linking
healthcare professionals’ payments to quality on a national
basis, consistent with Medicare’s ongoing transformation from
passive payer to active purchaser of high-value healthcare.
The Cerner Millennium Discern Analytics can be used by
clinicians to pull quality reporting data fromthe EMR to report to CMS.
By using the Discern Analytics solution, clinicians can access reports
created from the information they enter into the EMR during the care
process.
According to a 2006 article from the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association,
comparison studies of data gathered from clinical databases and data
gathered from claims information found substantial discrepancies
between the two types of data. Performance data gathered from EMRs is
typically more accurate than claims-based data.
The University of Missouri has been working with Cerner
to test the Discern Analytics solution to allow clinicians to measure
outcomes and pinpoint areas for improvement.
"The ability to pull data directly from Cerner
Millennium as opposed to spending extra time coding and compiling data
from claims-based reporting is a huge benefit for healthcare
organizations," said Dr. Hal Williamson, University of Missouri
professor and chair of the department of family and community medicine.
"Removing these time-consuming manual processes allows clinicians to
spend more time with patients and less time completing paperwork."
Addresses: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, 7500 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21244; (877) 267-2323, www.cms.gov. Cerner Corporation, 2800 Rockcreek Parkway, Kansas City, MO 64117; (816) 201-1024, www.cerner.com.
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