Published: April 28, 2020

At the Forefront

In addition to serving multiple functions as the clinical data registry for otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, Reg-ent is also utilized by members to submit data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) per the requirements of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

Reg-ent Is the MIPS Reporting Solution of Choice for Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery: Here’s Why

In addition to serving multiple functions as the clinical data registry for otolaryngology-head and neck surgery, Reg-ent is also utilized by members to submit data to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) per the requirements of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Designated by CMS as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR), Reg-ent can accommodate required reporting for three of the four MIPS 2020 performance categories: Quality, Promoting Interoperability (PI), and Improvement Activities (IA). Members participating in Reg-ent submit data to CMS for one, two, or all three of the performance categories and can do so at the individual clinician or practice level.

Reg Ent

Through Reg-ent’s advanced, user-friendly technology platform, registry participants have access to a customizable and interactive Reg-ent dashboard that provides a visual representation of quality performance data at the provider and practice levels and offers feedback opportunities to physicians and nonphysician providers so they may compare their performance with other clinicians in the registry at a national level. These capabilities support MIPS Quality performance category reporting in addition to allowing Reg-ent participants to monitor patient care and outcomes, identify gaps in care, and assist with implementation of evidence-based changes in care.

The Reg-ent MIPS module within the Reg-ent dashboard is configured in alignment with the scoring calculations and reporting requirements as outlined by CMS for MIPS 2020. The Reg-ent module provides participants with an estimated MIPS score for each performance category based on reporting selections and practice-/clinician-specific details that impact scoring.

Reg-ent currently contains 57 quality measures, all of which can be reported for MIPS 2020. Reg-ent includes 17 QCDR otolaryngology-specific measures developed by the AAO-HNSF available only in Reg-ent and 40 publicly available Quality Payment Program (QPP) measures that have been identified as applicable to AAO-HNS members.

Members who participate in Reg-ent are directly supporting the specialty through the contribution of data to the registry’s data repository specific to otolaryngology-head and neck surgery. It is the collective data in Reg-ent that empowers our specialty to determine the future of otolaryngology care—not only to define quality patient care and outcomes, but also to demonstrate the value of the care we provide.

Interested in learning more? Visit www.reg-ent.org or contact reg-ent@entnet.org.

 

Academy U

Free eCourse: Telemedicine During the Pandemic

Free for members and nonmembers: This timely new course provides a guide for immediate implementation of telemedicine in your practice in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This course was developed in collaboration with the Practice Management Education Committee and Telemedicine Committee. Learn more at http://academyu.entnet.org/.

 

2020 Measures

Age-related Hearing Loss Quality Measures

Two Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) measures related to geriatric otolaryngology were developed by the Age-related Hearing Loss Measures Development Group (MDG). These quality measures were created for the diagnosis and treatment of age-related hearing loss, including bilateral presbycusis and symmetric sensorineural hearing loss in older adults. They are available through the Reg-entSM registry:

AAO16 – Age-related Hearing Loss: Audiometric Evaluation

AAO17 – Age-related Hearing Loss: Advanced Diagnostic Imaging of Bilateral Presbycusis or Symmetric SNHL

These quality measures are used to track patient care, connect outcomes with processes, and meet third-party payer requirements, such as the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). By utilizing these quality measures through Reg-ent, you can track performance and benchmark against your peers.

To view the measure specifications and learn more, visit www.entnet.org/2020-measures.

 

Clinical Consensus Statement: Ankyloglossia in Children

The AAO-HNSF Clinical Consensus Statement (CCS): Ankyloglossia in Children was published online in Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery on April 14. Read the CCS now at https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0194599820915457

 

Oto Source

Education Opportunities

OTOSource, a single-source online repository for otolaryngology education, covers numerous topics from allergies to sinonasal disease in the senior population. Review conditions and treatment of geriatric patients through study guides and surgical videos on this free platform at www.otosource.org.

More from May 2020 – Vol. 39, No. 4
Lee
Humanitarian Travel Grant: Janet Lee, MD
Since 2014, Jeremy D. Meier, MD, from the University of Utah and Peter Appiah-Thompson, MD, of Cape Coast Teaching Hospital at the School of Medical Sciences in the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, have worked together to provide the people of Western Ghana with otolarnygologic care. This year marked the fifth anniversary of their partnership.
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Emerging Data Support a Personalized Approach for Elderly Patients with Head and Neck Cancer
Head and neck surgeons are increasingly concerned about following best practices when caring for elderly individuals with head and neck cancer. At the AAO-HNSF 2019 Annual Meeting & OTO Experience, this topic organically arose during three separate oncologic committee meetings.
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Transition to In-office Treatments: Sleep
Otolaryngologists are fast recognized by the public, government, and industry as leaders in the management of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). With a prevalence that is estimated to approach 14 percent of the population, OSA is not simple to treat, and patients benefit from a personalized approach.
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Upper Airway Stimulation: A New Frontier in the Treatment of OSA
Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) affects a significant portion of the adult population. Many patients do not tolerate continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), which is the gold-standard treatment. Over the past 30 years, numerous surgeries have been developed to enlarge the upper airway but fail to address the underlying loss of muscle tone associated with sleep onset, which is pivotal to the pathogenesis of obstructive sleep apnea.
GeriatricCochlear
Health Disparities in Geriatric Cochlear Implantation
Hearing loss is no longer considered a part of normal aging. The negative impact of hearing loss on mental, physical, and cognitive functioning has been well-documented in geriatric populations. Most notably, a recent study suggested hearing loss as a potentially modifiable risk factor responsible for 9 percent of dementia cases.
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Incorporating Advanced Practice Providers into Your Practice
Hopefully you have been following this series, learning more about the physician-advanced practice provider (APP) team approach to healthcare, and are ready to get started with recruiting and contracting. Your practice profile and management will benefit from a variety of approaches, and to help parse out these ideas, I have asked my colleague Scott P. Stringer, MD, MS, to share his experience.
Scale
Disequilibrium of Aging
Disequilibrium and associated balance disorders are common in older patients, with a prevalence of about 30 percent in those over the age of 60 years, increasing to 50 percent in those over the age of 85 years.
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Changing the Dialogue about Aging Voice
Raspy. High-pitched. Low volume. Weak. Tired. Patients have described the progressive changes over time in their voices in myriad ways. Although some may simply assume that these changes are part of the “normal aging” process, about 10 million elderly people do report a voice problem each year. The reported prevalence of dysphonia in the elderly ranges between 6 and 29 percent.
Boston1
Bringing Together the World of Otolaryngology in Boston This Fall
The AAO-HNSF 2020 Annual Meeting & OTO Experience will unite the specialty as one this September to once again bring together thought leaders, offer unparalleled education, and provide access to the latest products and services to optimize ENT patient care.
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Future Faces of Otolaryngology
Match Day 2020 was decidedly different from years past. The COVID-19 pandemic meant social distancing and cancelled receptions at medical schools across the country.
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Revolutionizing the Scope of Practice of Otolaryngology in Military Medicine
Dr. Joan T. Zajtchuk, COL (ret.) MC, U.S. Army, joined the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) when she returned from the Vietnam War in 1972. “My career trajectory in academic medicine after my residency was uncertain,” she explained. “A military career was unusual for a woman.
YPS
Uncertainty and Its Impact on the Young Otolaryngologist
Being a young otolaryngologist is simultaneously incredibly exciting and utterly terrifying even on a routine day-to-day basis. Keeping patients alive with precarious medical conditions, mastering your craft, building your practice, and discovering your preferences all while traversing the complex landscape of medicine in America is difficult in and of itself.
ASGO
Geriatric-Specific Otolaryngology Approaches
For decades, pediatric otolaryngologists have taught that children are not just small adults and that their care requires adopting unique approaches. It has become clear that geriatric patients are not just old adults but individuals who require diagnostic and therapeutic strategies different from those used for younger adults.
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Peer Support: Taking Care of Ourselves and Each Other
Much of our identity is wrapped up in the culture of our profession as otolaryngologists, surgeons, healers. This is a good thing. It doesn’t negate our other core identities: mom, wife, daughter, sister, friend, activist, etc. We are all a synthesis of these various parts of our whole being.
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Global Otolaryngology Community Comes Together in the Face of COVID-19 Pandemic
The healthcare community has been thrust into an unprecedented situation during the COVID-19 pandemic that has tested us mightily as we deal with supply shortages, the lack of adequate reliable testing, incomplete knowledge of COVID-19 transmission, and significant risks to those providing care.
James C. Denneny III, MD, AAO-HNS/F EVP/CEO
Our Otolaryngology Community: Collaborating and Sharing Experiences for Everyone’s Mutual Benefit
Our May issue typically has been used to promote our Annual Meeting & OTO Experience as well as other upcoming events. Clearly, this is the most atypical May I have experienced during my four decades of treating otolaryngology patients. Most of the world is beginning to see some needed light at the end of the tunnel, and physicians are either incrementally returning to practice or planning for that eventuality in the near future.
Duane J. Taylor, MD, AAO-HNS/F Past President
A Time for Our Equanimity under Duress
My hope is that you and your families are healthy and safe as you continue to manage, communicate with, and care for your patients in some way. I realize that difficult times like these can bring us closer as a specialty and make us more poised and better positioned to understand, research, educate, empathize, interact, and work through the challenges caused by this global pandemic.