How does one thrive in a small urology practice today?
There is a gauntlet of issues facing the physician who is determined to remain independent: from Quality Payment Program choices to compliance, and coding to IT support, the physician faces significant challenges.
Take One Step at a Time
A great first step: should your practice participate in MIPS? And if so, what’s your Quality Payment Program (QPP) path? Taking this step will tell you a lot about your practice workflow, your EHR, and your billing mix. In order to meet 2018 MIPS criteria, for example,
- You have to be able to send a direct email with the appropriate Patient Health Information (PHI) to another physician, who must likewise have a direct email address
- Your EHR must not only have that capability but be 2015 ONC certified
- Your office workflow must support the appropriate documentation requirements
- Your EHR must be able to produce the requisite reports
- Your office has to have an Enterprise Identity Management (EIDM) account in order to submit the collected information to CMS.
A Next step
Once your QPP path has been decided, next step: which clinical quality measures (CQMs) best fit your clinical focus for submission. Should they be the transition objectives or not? What version of certification is your EHR, 2014 or 2015?
Best thing to do: make a matrix of those objectives that best fit your practice, take your office staff through them to make sure appropriate documentation and understanding of those objectives are being met.
It’s a step by step process to thrive in today’s medical world: taking that small step towards what you need to do to successfully navigate QPP will lead towards a cascade of follow-on steps… next thing you know, you’re on the way to meeting MIPS requirements!
| Measure | CMS ID | NQF | Type | EHR Documentation process |
| Documentation of Meds in Current Record | CMS68v7 | 419 | High Priority Measure, Process | Medical record>Medications>Request Med HX or Add Meds |
| Tobacco Screening | CMS138v6 | 28 | Process | Medical record>History>Tobacco Assessment |
| Bone density eval | CMS645vq1 | NA | Process | Medical record>History>Bone Density |
| High BP Screening | CMS22v6 | NA | Process | Medical record>Vital signs>Record |
| Diabetes: Medical Attention for Nethropathy | CMS134v6 | 62 | Process | Medical record>History>Nethropathy |
| BMI screening | CMS69v6 | 421 | Process | Medical record>Vital signs>Record |
