Physician Compare Update December 2014 Issue 2 Welcome to the December 2014 issue of Physician Compare Update from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This publication is used to regularly communicate news, updates, alerts, and announcements about Physician Compare. We want to hear from you about topics of interest, so please email the team atPhysicianCompare@Westat.com.  Current Topics of Interest: Public Reporting of the 2013 Quality Measures Physician Compare Virtual Office Hour Session 2015 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule Physician Compare Technical Expert Panel Public Reporting of the 2013 Quality Measures:  On December 18, 2014, CMS publicly reported the 2013 Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) Group Practice Reporting Option (GPRO) measures for 139 group practices, 214 Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), and 23 Pioneer ACOs. The data are reported at the group practice and ACO level.  The specific measures being reported are: Controlling blood sugar levels in patients with diabetes (GPRO DM-15: Diabetes Mellitus: Hemoglobin A1c Control (<8%)). Controlling blood pressure in patients with diabetes (GPRO DM-13: Diabetes Mellitus: Blood Pressure Control in Patients with Diabetes). Prescribing aspirin to patients with diabetes and heart disease (GPRO DM-16: Diabetes Mellitus: Daily Aspirin Use for Patients with Diabetes and Ischemic Vascular Disease). Prescribing medicine to improve the pumping action of the heart in patients who have both heart disease and certain other conditions (GPRO CAD-7. Coronary Artery Disease (CAD): Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme (ACE) Inhibitor or Angiotensin Receptor Blocker (ARB) Therapy for Patients with CAD and Diabetes and/or Left Ventricular Systolic Dysfunction (LVSD)). In addition to PQRS measures, CMS publicly reported the first set of patient experience measures for ACOs on Physician Compare.  The data are based on patients’ responses to the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) for ACOs survey.  The specific summary survey measures include: Getting Timely Care, Appointments, and Information How Well Your Doctors Communicate Patients’ Rating of Doctor Health Promotion and Education CMS will phase in additional quality measures on Physician Compare over the next several years. The 2014 PFS Final Rule further expands on the public reporting plan to make available for public reporting all PQRS GPRO measures collected via the Web Interface, registry, and EHR; all ACO measures; a subset of PQRS individual eligible professional measures collected through an EHR, registry, or claims; and patient experience measures, specifically CAHPS for PQRS and CAHPS for ACOs. These data are targeted for publication in late 2015. For more information about the 2013 GPRO and ACO measures and the public reporting plan, go to the Physician Compare Initiative webpage. <back to top> Physician Compare Virtual Office Hour Session: CMS will be hosting a Physician Compare Virtual Office Hour session on January 22, 2015. This session will provide CMS the opportunity to directly address questions about Physician Compare and public reporting. The session will be conducted via WebEx from 11:30am – 12:30pm EST. You can register for the session by emailing the Physician Compare support team at PhysicianCompare@Westat.com. Please use the subject line “Physician Compare Virtual Office Hour” and include your name, organization, telephone number, and email address. All questions will be solicited in advance. Please include your questions with your registration email or send them separately to the e-mail above when prepared. In order to address as many participants as possible, you may submit up to three questions. All questions must be received by 5:00pm EST on Wednesday, January 14, 2015. <back to top> 2015 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule: On November 13, 2014, CMS released the 2015 Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule (79 FR 67547) which continues to build on the phased approach for public reporting on Physician Compare. CMS has purposefully laid out this phased, transparent approach to public reporting to ensure reporting is accurate and the measures reported are helpful to consumers as they make important decisions about their health care.  According to the rule, CMS will expand public reporting of group-level measures by making all 2015 PQRS GRPO Web Interface, registry, and EHR measures for group practices of two or more eligible professionals (EPs) and all measures reported by ACOs available for public reporting on Physician Compare in late 2016. All 2015 PQRS individual EP-level measures collected via registry, EHR, or claims will also be available for public reporting on Physician Compare in late 2016. Individual EP-level Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) measures will be available for public reporting, too, with the exception of those measures that are new and thus in their first year of use. In general, no first year measures will be publicly reported on Physician Compare. All measures submitted, reviewed, and deemed valid and reliable will be reported in the Physician Compare downloadable database; however, only those measures deemed most helpful and useful to consumers will be included on the Physician Compare profile pages. Understanding the value consumers place on data reported by patients like them, CMS will publicly report 2015 Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) for PQRS survey data in late 2016 for group practices of two or more EPs, as well as CAHPS for ACO survey data, for those that meet the specified sample size requirements and collect data via an approved CMS-specified CAHPS vendor. In addition, the 2015 PFS rule finalized that individual EPs will receive a green checkmark indicating support for Million Hearts if they satisfactorily report all four of the following cardiovascular prevention individual measures: Ischemic Vascular Disease (IVD):  Use of Aspirin or Another Antithrombotic; Preventive Care and Screening:  Tobacco Use; Controlling High Blood Pressure; and Preventive Care and Screening:  Screening for High Blood Pressure and Follow-Up Documented. For more information on what was finalized for Physician Compare, review the 2015 PFS final rule athttps://federalregister.gov/a/2014-26183. Additional information on the Physician Compare public reporting plan can be found in the Public Reporting section of the Physician Compare Initiative webpage. <back to top> Physician Compare Technical Expert Panel:  In 2013, CMS convened the Physician Compare Quality Measurement Technical Expert Panel (TEP) to provide expert input regarding public reporting via the Physician Compare website. The TEP comprises 16 individuals who represent the perspectives of patients/caregivers and purchasers as well as technical experts who can provide a broad range of technical experience and expertise in public reporting of performance measures. The TEP convened at a third meeting on August 18, 2014. The purpose of the meeting was to seek the TEP’s input on the 2013 PQRS measures available for public reporting on Physician Compare. A summary of this meeting is now available on the Physician Compare Initiative webpage. <back to top>

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sent this Medicare.gov- Physician Compare Update. To contact Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) go to our contact us page.

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