Collect data or else
Some quality data programs are tied to your Medicare payment rate,
so called "pay for reporting." Under the Ambulatory Surgical Center
Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program, for example, surgical centers
must report quality of care data for standardized measures to receive
the full annual update to their ASC annual payment rate.
"One of my duties is to ensure we are compliant with required
reporting. Indeed, it is a burden!" says Ms. Holder. "No one wants to
be solely responsible for a decrease in facility reimbursement. In addi-
tion, there is no one-stop shop (that I am aware of) that tells you how,
where and when to report."
The ASCQR reporting deadlines have moved from August 15 to
May 15, so you might want to get moving, says Ms. Holder. She also
suggests you use the auditing tools you'll find at
qualitynet.org — if your facility uses a billing company to submit
your G Codes, you can audit their data input.
Ms. Holder created that reference chart for reporting on the bottom
of p. 36 so you can keep it all straight.
Some data programs are pay for reporting, not pay for performance.
A prime example is OAS CAHPS (Outpatient and Ambulatory Surgery
Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems). Once
the patient-satisfaction survey is rolled out, CMS will care only that
you meet the data submission requirements, not your score. At least
you don't have to collect the data. You do, however, have to pay a
CMS-approved company to survey 300 of your patients in a year. If you
don't participate, CMS may withhold 2% of your Medicare reimburse-
ments.
Hospitals have the option to administer the surveys themselves,
but ASCs must pay a CMS-certified vendor (who'll charge you any-
where from $10 to $25 per completed survey) to administer the 37-
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