Category: Improvement Activities

In order to receive credit for this activity, a MIPS eligible clinician must participate in Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part IV. Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part IV requires clinicians to perform monthly activities across practice to regularly assess performance by reviewing outcomes addressing identified areas for improvement and evaluating the results. Some examples of activities that can be completed to receive MOC Part IV credit are: the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Approved Quality Improvement (AQI) Program, National Cardiovascular Data Registry (NCDR) Clinical Quality Coach, Quality Practice Initiative Certification Program, American Board of Medical Specialties Practice Performance Improvement Module or American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Simulation Education Network, for improving professional practice including participation in a local, regional or national outcomes registry or quality assessment program; specialty- specific activities including Safety Certification in Outpatient Practice Excellence (SCOPE); American Psychiatric Association (APA) Performance in Practice modules.

For MIPS eligible clinicians not participating in Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Part IV, new engagement for MOC Part IV, such as the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Training/Forum Event; National Academy of Medicine, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Team STEPPS®, or the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Performance in Practice Modules.

Administration of the AHRQ Survey of Patient Safety Culture and submission of data to the comparative database (refer to AHRQ Survey of Patient Safety Culture website http://www.ahrq.gov/professionals/quality-patient-safety/patientsafetyculture/index.html). Note: This activity may be selected once every 4 years, to avoid duplicative information given that some of the modules may change on a year by year basis but over 4 years there would be a reasonable expectation for the set of modules to have undergone substantive change, for the improvement activities performance category score.

Participation in a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) and use of QCDR data for ongoing practice assessment and improvements in patient safety, including:
• Performance of activities that promote use of standard practices, tools, and processes for quality improvement (for example, documented preventive health efforts, like screening and vaccinations) that can be shared across MIPS eligible clinicians or groups);
• Use of standard questionnaires for assessing improvements in health disparities related to functional health status (for example, use of Seattle Angina Questionnaire, MD Anderson Symptom Inventory, and/or SF-12/VR-12 functional health status assessment);
• Use of standardized processes for screening for drivers of health, such as food security, housing stability, and transportation accessibility;
• Generation and use of regular feedback reports that summarize local practice patterns and treatment outcomes, including for populations that are disadvantaged and/or underserved by the healthcare system;
• Use of processes and tools that engage patients to improve adherence to treatment plans;
• Implementation of patient self-action plans;
• Implementation of shared clinical decision-making capabilities;
• Use of QCDR patient experience data to inform and advance improvements in beneficiary engagement;
• Promotion of collaborative learning network opportunities that are interactive;
• Use of supporting QCDR modules that can be incorporated into the certified EHR technology; or
• Use of QCDR data for quality improvement, such as comparative analysis across specific patient populations of adverse outcomes after an outpatient surgical procedure and corrective steps to address these outcomes.

In order to receive credit for this activity, a MIPS eligible clinician must use tools that assist specialty practices in tracking specific measures that are meaningful to their practice.Some examples of tools that could satisfy this activity are: a surgical risk calculator; evidence based protocols, such as Enhanced Recovery After Surgery (ERAS) protocols; the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Guide for Infection Prevention for Outpatient Settings predictive algorithms; and the opiate risk tool (ORT) or similar tool.

Engaging community health workers to provide a comprehensive link to community resources through family-based services focusing on success in health, education, and self-sufficiency. This activity supports individual MIPS eligible clinicians or groups that coordinate with primary care and other clinicians, engage and support patients, use of health information technology, and employ quality measurement and improvement processes. An example of this community based program is the NCQA Patient-Centered Connected Care (PCCC) Recognition Program or other such programs that meet these criteria.

For at-risk outpatient Medicare beneficiaries, individual MIPS eligible clinicians and groups must attest to implementation of systematic preventive approaches in clinical practice for at least 60 percent for the 2018 performance period and 75 percent in future years, of electronic medical records with documentation of screening patients for abnormal blood glucose according to current US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) and/or American Diabetes Association (ADA) guidelines.

For at-risk outpatient Medicare beneficiaries, individual MIPS eligible clinicians and groups must attest to implementation of systematic preventive approaches in clinical practice for at least 60 percent for the CY 2018 performance period and 75 percent in future years, of medical records with documentation of referring eligible patients with prediabetes to a CDC-recognized diabetes prevention program operating under the framework of the National Diabetes Prevention Program.

Implementation of practices/processes to develop advance care planning that includes: documenting the advance care plan or living will within the medical record, educating clinicians about advance care planning motivating them to address advance care planning needs of their patients, and how these needs can translate into quality improvement, educating clinicians on approaches and barriers to talking to patients about end-of-life and palliative care needs and ways to manage its documentation, as well as informing clinicians of the healthcare policy side of advance care planning.

Establish policies and procedures to improve practice capacity to increase HIV prevention screening, improve HIV prevention education and awareness, and reduce disparities in pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake. Use one or more of the following activities:
• Implement electronic health record (EHR) prompts or clinical decision support tools to increase appropriate HIV prevention screening;
• Require that providers and designated clinical staff take part in at least one educational opportunity that includes components on the importance and application of HIV prevention screening and PrEP initiation in clinical practice; and/or
• Assess and refine current policies for HIV prevention screening, including integrated sexually transmitted infection (STI)/HIV testing processes, universal HIV screening, and PrEP initiation.