OR Manager - January 2018 - 30

AMBULATORY
SURGERY CENTERS
Continued from page 29
ASC-12: Facility Seven-Day Risk
Standardized Hospital Visit Rate
after Outpatient Colonoscopy
No data submission is required for ASC12
because CMS pulls the data from
fee-for-service administrative claims
billed by the ASC. Data for 2016 from
centers that perform colonoscopies
were publicly reported in December
2017 on the Hospital Compare website.
" It's important and beneficial to review
these Colonoscopy Claims Detail Reports
to help you identify potential quality
improvement gaps at your facility, "
Throneberry says.
ASC 13: Normothermia; ASC-14:
Unplanned Anterior Vitrectomy
Data collection for these new measures
began January 1. Both measures require
that data be submitted for all patients
who meet the denominator criteria.
For ASC-13 (normothermia), the
denominator is all patients, regardless
of age, undergoing surgical procedures
under general or neuraxial anesthesia
of greater than or equal to 60 minutes'
duration. The numerator is surgery patients
with a body temperature equal to
or greater than 96.8°F/36°C recorded
within 15 minutes of arrival in the postanesthesia
care unit (PACU).
" Centers need to get the PACU staff
involved to determine how to efficiently
collect this data, " Throneberry says. " It
may even be the old-fashioned method of
an Excel spreadsheet. " The ASC Quality
Collaboration Implementation Guide appendix
provides a sample normothermia
data collection form (www.ascquality.org).
ASC-14 measures the number of
cataract surgery patients who have an
unplanned anterior vitrectomy. The numerator
is all cataract surgery patients
who had an unplanned anterior vitrectomy.
The denominator is all cataract
surgery patients.
Even if ASCs do not perform these
procedures, they must log into www.
qualitynet.org and enter zero for the nu30
OR
Manager | January 2018
Ambulatory Surgery Center
Association (ASCA)
ASC Quality Measure Resources
OAS CAHPS Website
www.ascaassociation.org/federalregulations/qualityreporting
Ambulatory
Surgical Center
Quality Reporting (ASCQR)
Specifications Manual
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid
Services (CMS) created this manual in
2012 to explain each of the quality measures
in an easy-to-read format. CMS updates
the manual about every 6 months.
Use the latest version, which for 2018 is
v7.0. The manual can be downloaded on
www.qualitynet.org under the ASC tab.
ASC Quality Collaboration
Website contains a summary of the
measures and the ASC Quality Collaboration
Implementation Guide. www.
ascquality.org/qualitymeasures.cfm.
merator and denominator in both measures,
Throneberry says.
ASC-15a-e: Outpatient/Ambulatory
Surgery Consumer Assessment of
Healthcare Providers and Systems
(OAS CAHPS)
This measure has caused the most
angst in the ASC industry, Throneberry
says. As predicted, CMS has delayed
implementation of these five patient
satisfaction measures collected in one
survey.
The ASC industry has expressed two
major concerns about OAS CAHPS-
the mode of delivery (phone and postal
mail versus electronic) and the length
of the survey. ASCs have requested
an electronic version of the survey. " It
is much more costly and time intensive
for a vendor to make calls and follow
up on unreturned mailed surveys, "
Throneberry says. CMS has expressed
concerns that a certain age population
might not be as inclined to answer
email surveys.
ASCs can download the voluntary survey
instrument. The Protocols and Guidelines
Manual explains the survey participation
requirements on pages 13-15.
https://oascahps.org/Survey-Materials.
QualityNet
In addition to finding the ASCQR
specifications manual, ASCs can upload
quality data for several measures on
www.qualitynet.org, find links to CMS
announcements, and join an ASC quality
listserve.
Quality Reporting Center Health
Services Advisory Group
CMS contractor that supports ASC in
achieving quality measures. Call with questions
at (866) 800-8765 or email igr@
hsag.com. www.qualityreportingcenter.com
ASCs also object to the length of the
survey. CMS requires 37 questions,
and centers can add up to 15 supplemental
questions, for a total of 52
questions.
CMS has approved 22 vendors to
administer the survey. ASCs cannot administer
it themselves. " There are approximately
5,600 Medicare-certified
ASCs in this country, and all of them will
need to be ready to administer the survey
at the same time once CMS says
'go,' Throneberry says. " I highly recommend
doing your homework now on
vendors even if you don't sign on the
dotted line right away. If you haven't already,
start the process by going to the
OAS CAHPS website (www.oascahps.
org/Survey-Materials). Look at vendors,
call them, and get prices. This is going
to cost you money, but if Medicare decides
to push the green button on this,
you need to be ready to go. "
Even though the survey quality measure
has been delayed, it is not going
away, Throneberry says. " It's required
www.ormanager.com
http://www.ascaassociation.org/federalregu https://www.oascahps.org/Survey-Materials http://www.qualitynet.org http://www.qualitynet.org http://www.ascquality.org/qualitymeasures.cfm http://www.qualityreportingcenter.com http://www.ascquality.org http://www.oascahps http://www.qualitynet.org http://www.ormanager.com
OR Manager - January 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of OR Manager - January 2018
