Published: September 29, 2015

The power of data raises the bar on patient care

At our spring Boards of Directors meeting, the BOD made the courageous decision to fund an otolaryngology-specific clinical data registry. That decision will “empower our Members to provide the best patient care” as well as satisfy reporting requirements for both CMS and private payers. The BOD charged the Registry Task Force, chaired by Lisa Ishii, MD, MHS, to create a business plan and select both a model and vendor for our registry.

AAO-HNSF registry, RegentSM, to begin pilot enrollment

By James C. Denneny III, MD

dataAt our spring Boards of Directors meeting, the BOD made the courageous decision to fund an otolaryngology-specific clinical data registry. That decision will “empower our Members to provide the best patient care” as well as satisfy reporting requirements for both CMS and private payers. The BOD charged the Registry Task Force, chaired by Lisa Ishii, MD, MHS, to create a business plan and select both a model and vendor for our registry. The Registry Task Force recommended FIGmd as the vendor for the otolaryngology clinical data registry (Regent) and the Boards of Directors approved that recommendation on September 26, 2015. I would like to thank the Members of the Registry Task Force as well as our staff, particularly Jean Brereton, MBA, and Cathlin Bowman, MBA, for the tireless work they have done in moving this process forward on an expedited timeline.

doctorWe will begin enrolling Members from all practice settings to participate in pilot testing. Our goal is to have pilot testing done and the registry open for enrollment in  2016. FIGmd was chosen after considerable investigation and consultation with multiple organizations throughout the process. The FIGmd model of registry building and implementation has been successful for a number of organizations similar to the AAO-HNSF including the American College of Cardiology, the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the American Academy of Neurology, the American College of Emergency Physicians, and the American Urological Association. All clients of FIGmd have access to innovations and improvements made anywhere in their network. Their vision of shared technology and group participation has allowed a more rapid advancement of registries and their capabilities across a broad range of medical and surgical societies.

regentlogoOne of our greatest concerns was how data would get from our Members to the registry with the least disruption to their practices. FIGmd has perfected a technology that extracts data from more than 60 existing EMR systems, which include the majority of EMR systems our Members report using. This does not require any additional data entry by physicians or their staffs. While it takes time to build a successful registry, FIGmd’s system, which starts with pilot testing of a number of diverse sites (academic, private practice, and hospital-based), streamlines this process. Although the initial focus of the registry will be on quality reporting, it will evolve over time into much more. Our model will allow input from the otolaryngology specialty societies as we expand to encompass the breadth of our specialty. The following goals will be paramount to the registry operation.

greeniconMeet current and future CMS quality reporting requirements.

The registry can be used for PQRS reporting under current conditions as well as adapted to MIPS reporting requirements when finalized by CMS.

browniconDemonstrate the value of care.

Data from disparate Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems in various participant locations will be interoperable and transparent. This will enable the AAO-HNSF to benchmark its participants, understand quality of care, and construct a program to allow for performance improvement.

blueiconEstablish and define excellent otolaryngology care across the depth and breadth of the specialty.

By enhancing interoperability and transparency of clinical data at a central location in a registry, the AAO-HNSF can gauge the clinical impact of its guidelines and fine tune them to continually improve standards for “excellent otolaryngology care.” This will also allow input from specialty societies to broaden our portfolio of measures to cover the breadth of the specialty.

rediconDevelop Performance Measures to meet quality reporting/performance improvement requirements.

More rapid and cost-effective development of performance e-measures to quickly expand our portfolio will allow the AAO-HNSF to author, simulate, and test measures on registry data before launching the measures.

purpleiconAssist Member participation in MOC and MOL activities.

Coordinate with and provide data to the American Board of Otolaryngology (ABOto) and state licensing boards to satisfy MOC and MOL requirements. The ABOto has expressed interest in such a relationship going forward.

Registry Task Force
Chair
Lisa E. Ishii, MD, MHS
Members
James C. Denneny, III MD
Robert R. Lorenz, MD, MBA
Rodney P. Lusk, MD
David R. Nielsen, MD
Richard M. Rosenfeld, MD, MPH
Jennifer J. Shin, MD, SM
David L. Witsell, MD, MHS

goldFacilitate appropriate secondary uses of aggregated data.

In addition to a focus on required quality reporting, measures can be developed to facilitate educational, research, quality and performance improvement opportunities; post-market device surveillance; population health tracking; and patient outcomes.

browniconFacilitate the development of alternative payment models.

The registry can be structured to automatically collect, host, process, and benchmark data from all participants. This data will assist Member participation in integrated physician groups and risk-sharing models including bundled episodes of care.

rediconFacilitate development of Appropriate Use Criteria.

Help identify opportunities for the development of evidence-based guidelines and Appropriate Use Criteria that can be used in establishing appropriate care with both government and private payers.

Regent will be available to U.S.-based AAO-HNS Members from all regions and all practice settings. This includes private practitioners, those working in academic settings as well as employees of hospital systems. FIGmd has successfully worked in all of these venues to provide participants the information they need for quality endeavors. We will waive the application fee and the yearly maintenance fee for the first 1,000 participants joining in the first year. Going forward, there will be a $295 yearly maintenance fee similar to the current cost of PQRS reporting, even though the benefits of the registry will far exceed simple PQRS activities. There will also be a one-time $250 application fee for those who apply after the first 1,000 Members are enrolled.

Our Members have asked us to provide the tools that they need to survive and thrive as healthcare delivery transitions away from the fee-for-service model to quality-based care delivery. We listened and feel that Regent will provide these tools for our Members in a “one-stop shopping” arrangement. We look forward to your participation in the future and will be sending out information when registration begins.

About FIGmd

 

figmedlogoFIGmd, Inc., was incorporated in 2010 and provides clinical data registry, analytics, and data reporting solutions to medical practices, specialty societies, medical professional associations, hospitals, health systems, and others.  FIGmd’s platform, technologies, and solutions allow societies such as AAO-HNSF to quickly scale registries with minimal impact to the daily workflow of physician and care team members. Services in the FIGmd solution include measure identification and customization, data dictionary development and coding, e- specification of existing measures, patient reported outcomes, and data quality rules definitions. Also included are contract development assistance, registry brand development, integration of registry infrastructure with existing infrastructure as well as participant recruitment and onboarding. FIGmd’s clinical analytics allow registry owners to perform research, track longitudinal data, identify gaps in care, and have rapid collection of patient encounter data.

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