CMS Renews QCDR Status for ASCP’s Patient-Centric Quality Registry
CHICAGO (PRWEB) January 14, 2020 -- The American Society for Clinical Pathology (ASCP) is pleased to announce that its National Pathology Quality Registry (NPQR) has been granted Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) status for the third consecutive year by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). With QCDR status, NPQR offers pathologists a way to meet requirements under CMS’ Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).
The ASCP NPQR is an institution-based registry that will allow pathologists and entire laboratory teams, as well as quality managers and IT managers, to participate in quality improvement initiatives and, with renewed QCDR approval, pathologists can submit for CMS quality reporting.
“This is an important recognition for the NPQR. What sets NPQR apart from other registries is that it also gives pathologists and the laboratory team the tools to initiate tangible quality improvement and make meaningful impacts on patient care delivery,” said Ali Brown, MD, FASCP, Chief Officer of Medical Quality for ASCP.
NPQR, established by ASCP in 2016, offers a wide variety of meaningful, patient-centric measures – a subset of which is designated for MIPS reporting through the QCDR. The measures currently focus on the following topics, and additional topics will be added in the future:
- Monitoring appropriate utilization of laboratory testing
- Improving pre-analytical processes
- Optimizing turnaround time and critical value reporting
- Assessing analytical and diagnostic accuracy
Currently, medical laboratories lack a robust method for sharing best practices and benchmarking performance to drive improvement. Through NPQR, labs have a tool for quality improvement science and the establishment of best practices.
“With NPQR, instead of just giving pathologists a benchmark, we are incorporating ASCP’s vast expertise and educational materials to give pathologists and laboratories the tools to drive change,” Dr. Brown said.
NPQR aggregates data from both laboratory medicine and anatomic pathology lab information systems to provide regularly-updated dashboards that drill down to patient-level details. Participants can then create and share reports with frontline staff, departments, practice managers and hospital administrators, allowing pathologists and laboratory professionals to take a leading role in quality management at their institutions.
In addition to offering pathologists a tool for regulatory reporting for 2020, NPQR also offers a reporting option for pathologists to meet 2019 MIPS requirements and avoid a potential 7-percent loss on their Medicare Part B billing in 2021. Pathologists can learn more about participating in NPQR, at http://www.ascp.org/NPQR.
About ASCP
Founded in 1922 in Chicago, ASCP is a medical professional society with more than 100,000 member board-certified anatomic and clinical pathologists, pathology residents and fellows, laboratory professionals, and students. ASCP provides excellence in education, certification, and advocacy on behalf of patients, pathologists, and laboratory professionals. To learn more, visit http://www.ascp.org. Follow us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/ascp_chicago and connect with us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/ASCP.Chicago.
Sue Montgomery, American Society for Clinical Pathology, http://www.ascp.org, 3125414754, [email protected]
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