Category: Quality Incentive Program (QIP)

Posting of Payment Year 2018 Performance Score Certificates

CMS regulations state that each facility’s Payment Year (PY) 2018 Performance Score Certificate (PSC) must be printed and posted in a prominent patient area within 15 business days of its availability. PSCs are expected to be available on or about December 15, 2017.

Click on the link for instructions to download and print the certificate.
http://help.esrd.ipro.org/solution/articles/9000114744-esrd-qip-payment-year-2018-guide.

For information on how ESRD QIP affects patients, please visit:
https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/ESRDQIP/03_PatientImpact.html.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ESRD-QIP team at esrdqip@cms.hhs.gov. If you have any questions for the Network staff, please send an email to support@iproesrdnetwork.freshdesk.com.

ESRD PPS: Updates to Policies and Payment Rates

CMS issued a final rule that updates payment policies and rates under the ESRD Prospective Payment System (PPS) for renal dialysis services furnished to beneficiaries on or after January 1, 2018. In addition, this rule finalizes updates to the acute kidney injury dialysis payment rate for renal dialysis services, as well as updates to the ESRD Quality Incentive Program for payment years 2019, 2020, and 2021. CMS projects that the updates for Calendar Year (CY) 2018 will increase the total payments to all ESRD facilities by 0.5 percent compared with CY 2017. For hospital-based ESRD facilities, CMS projects an increase in total payments of 0.7 percent, while for freestanding facilities, the projected increase in total payments is 0.5 percent.

The final rule also includes:

  • Update to the ESRD PPS base rate
  • Annual update to the wage index and wage index floor
  • Update to the outlier policy

See the full text of this excerpted CMS Fact Sheet (issued October 27).

REMINDER: NHSN Data Reporting Deadline for Quality Incentive Program (QIP) is Quickly Approaching

REMINDER: NHSN Data Reporting Deadline for Quality Incentive Program (QIP) is Quickly Approaching

September 30, 2017 is the deadline for National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) second quarter 2017 Dialysis Event reporting.

Tips for Accurate Reporting of NHSN Data:

If you have any questions, contact the NHSN helpdesk (nhsn@cdc.gov) and include ‘Dialysis’ in the subject line.

Click here to open the June 2017 NHSN Newsletter, which provides helpful resources for data reporting.

NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance Protocol: CE Available

The CDC recently hosted webinars that provided a complete introduction to the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Dialysis Event reporting requirements and the surveillance definitions necessary to complete accurate monthly reporting. NHSN Dialysis Event Surveillance reporting is required for the CMS ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP).

If you missed the live webinar, continuing education (CE) credits are available for the recorded presentation, which can be found at https://www.cdc.gov/nhsn/Training/continuing-edu.html.

 

CMS Extends Submission Deadline: Pain Assessment and Follow-Up Reporting

CMS has announced the extension of the data submission deadline for the first reporting period of the Pain Assessment and Follow-Up Reporting Measure, in CROWNWeb, from July 31, 2017 to August 31, 2017 at 11:59 PM ET in support of the ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) Payment Year (PY) 2019. 

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the ESRD QIP team at mailto:esrdqip@cms.hhs.govv.

End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Quality Incentive Program (QIP) Payment Year (PY) 2018 Preview Period

The PY 2018 Preview Period is scheduled to end on August 18, 2017, at 11:59 PM Pacific Time. The Preview Period provides each facility the opportunity to review and ask questions about its ESRD QIP scores and any potential payment reductions.

During the Preview Period, facility points of contact (POC) may use the ESRD QIP system to ask clarification questions and systemic clarification questions, as well as submit a single formal inquiry in the event that the facility believes its scores were not calculated correctly. Please note that only the Preview Patient List Reports (PLR) can be run during the Preview Period. The Final PLRs will be populated once scores have been finalized. 

If you have questions or concerns regarding the use of the ESRD QIP system, please contact the QualityNet Help Desk at qnetsupport-esrd@hcqis.orgor (866) 288-8912 (7:00 AM to 7:00 PM Central Time from Monday through Friday). If you have any questions or concerns regarding the program, please contact the ESRD QIP team at esrdqip@cms.hhs.gov.

 

CMS Extends Q1 2017 NHSN Deadline for ESRD QIP Reporting

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an extension of the deadline for 2017 First Quarter NHSN reporting to Monday, July 31, 2017, at 11:59 p.m. PT. The extension will allow facilities the opportunity to ensure data are complete and accurate in accordance with ESRD QIP reporting policy.

To read the full announcement, please click here.

The current ESRD QIP measure set is not designed to measure the quality of care provided to patients with acute kidney injuries (AKI). CMS will use only ESRD patient data to calculate the NHSN Bloodstream Infection (BSI) clinical measure, NHSN Dialysis Event reporting measure, or any other measure in the ESRD QIP for Payment Year (PY) 2019; AKI patient data will not be included in the calculations.

However, facilities are encouraged to consider reporting AKI patients on a voluntary basis for internal quality improvement efforts and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) public health surveillance purposes. Please use the following guidelines to ensure AKI patient data are excluded from QIP scoring purposes for Calendar Year (CY) 2017 NHSN BSI data.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the extension, please contact the CMS ESRD QIP team at esrdqip@cms.hhs.gov with “AKI” in the subject line.

If you have questions regarding how to remove patients with AKI from data reported to NHSN, please contact the NHSN helpdesk at NHSN@cdc.gov with “Dialysis” in the subject line.

National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) Reporting Requirements

To meet the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ESRD Quality Incentive Program (QIP) National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) reporting requirements for Payment Year 2019, outpatient hemodialysis clinics must submit first quarter 2017 Dialysis Event data collected from January 1, 2017 through March 31, 2017, by Friday, June 30, 2017. New or revised first quarter data entered into NHSN after June 30, 2017 will not be received by CMS. Therefore, please be aware that any changes or corrections to first quarter 2017 data should be made prior to the reporting deadline.

 

The following steps are recommended to review your data before the deadline. Additional resources can be found on the Dialysis Event homepage:

Please contact the NHSN Helpdesk  at nhsn@cdc.gov include ‘Dialysis’ in the subject line) with any questions.