CMS releases tool to facilitate Quality Payment Program

Issue: December 25, 2016

The CMS recently launched an online tool to aid in sharing electronic data for the Medicare Quality Payment Program to reduce clinician burden, while improving overall quality of care, according to a press release.

This new launch, known as an Application Program Interface (API), builds upon the CMS’s Quality Payment Program website that was released in October. It will facilitate the retrieval and maintenance of the program’s measures for organizations, as well as enable organizations to create applications for physicians and their practices. The Explores Measures tool was developed by the CMS based on clinician interviews. The tool, already used by thousands of people, allows clinicians and practice managers to choose, organize and save measures that appropriately fit within their practice.

“The API … will continue CMS’s focus on user-driven design by providing developers and our partners the opportunity to turn our data into powerful applications,” Kate Goodrich, MD, director of the CMS Centers for Clinical Standards and Quality said in the release. “CMS is committed to collaborating with the organizations that doctors trust to make their lives easier, while supporting their efforts to improve the quality of care across America.”

“An important part of the Quality Payment Program is to make it easier and less expensive to participate, so clinicians may focus on seeing patients. This first release is a step in that process, both for physicians and the technologists who support them,” Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of CMS, added.

The launch of this new tool was applauded by several groups, including the ACP, TMF Quality Innovation Network Quality Improvement Organization (TMF QIN-QIO), the American Academy of Ophthalmology, the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement and the American College of Radiology.

“The ACP supports the efforts of CMS to design and share publicly accessible interfaces that help simplify the process of physician participation in the Quality Payment Program,” Nitin S. Damle, MD, MS, MACP, president of ACP, said. “These efforts are aligned with ACP's ongoing efforts to help equip physicians with tools and support needed to transform from volume-based, to value-based, patient-centered care.”

“As a Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization, TMF is excited about this innovative approach towards providing transparency around quality improvement efforts,” Russell Kohl, MD, FAAFP, medical director for Practice Transformation, TMF QIN-QIO, said. “We believe that the API approach will allow CMS, providers, and patients to benefit from the ideas of creative programmers across the country as they build user-friendly interfaces to put information at the fingertips of those who need it. Efficiencies like these, that allow physicians to spend less time on administration and more on caring for patients, are the hallmark of our daily efforts to help caregivers, regardless of their location, provide the best care to patients, and we look forward to seeing CMS's results.”

“We applaud CMS for using innovations in technology to help clinicians select and report meaningful measures for the quality of care patients receive,” Debra L. Ness, president of the National Partnership for Women & Families said. “APIs hold a lot of promise for helping consumers access and use information in a more actionable and easy-to-understand way, which can lead to improved outcomes for both patients and health care providers.”

According to the CMS, the Quality Payment Program is streamlining policy and enhancing technology and operations, thus revolutionizing Medicare to pay smarter for higher quality care. The CMS states that they will continue to launch new data and APIs as the program and website evolve to spark the creation of innovative tools, as well as keep participants current and informed.

For more information:

https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2016-Press-releases-items/2016-11-17.html