Improving Hypertension _ Diabetes Control and Prevention
  
An e-NEWSLETTER from Quality Insights                                                                                          May 26, 2017

In This Issue



PODCASTS HIGHLIGHT NEW RESEARCH AND INFORMATION TO ADVANCE THE TREATMENT OF DIABETES  

podcast icon podcastDiabetes Core Update is a monthly audio podcast devoted to presenting and discussing the latest clinically relevant articles from the American Diabetes Association's four scholarly journals: Diabetes, Diabetes Care, Clinical Diabetes, and Diabetes Spectrum
Each episode is approximately 20 minutes long and presents 5-6 recently published articles from ADA journals. 

Intended for the busy healthcare professional who has little time to review journal articles in depth, Diabetes Core Update discusses how the latest research and information published in ADA journals are relevant to clinical practice and can be applied in a treatment setting. 

Diabetes Core Update audio podcasts are FREE and can be accessed through Diabetes Core Update Podcasts.
there's still time to enter the million hearts® hypertension control challenge

MH hypertension control challenge challengeHas your practice or health system successfully worked with patients to reduce high blood pressure and improve heart health? If so, you might be a 2017 Million Hearts® Hypertension Control Champion! 

If you have achieved a hypertension control rate of 70 percent or above for your patient population with hypertension, please share your success story and enter the Hypertension Control Challenge by June 2, 2017 Click here for  details on eligibility and the submission process.
don't forget: there are just five days left to submit your 2016 medicaid application

deadlinesThe deadline for submission of Program Year 2016 Medicaid applications is Wednesday, May 31, 2017Please remember that ALL applications are required to submit specific pre-payment documentation. Often, supporting documentation may be missing. Here's one example:
 
Objective 2: Clinical Decision Support -  Use of clinical decision support to improve performance on high-priority health conditions.  
  • Eligible professionals (EPs) must satisfy both measures in order to meet the objective, however the Pennsylvania Department of Health and Human Services (DHS) - Medical Assistance Health IT Program is finding that documentation for Measure 2 (Drug-Drug and Drug Allergy Interaction Checks) is a very common missing part of the required pre-payment documentation.
  • The following is required: Dashboard or screenshot showing when the Drug-Drug and Drug-Allergy interaction occurred. A single report submitted for a physician group of applying providers can be used. A List of EP's names and NPI numbers for which this analysis applies should accompany the report.
Helpful Tip
Be mindful when entering your Meaningful Use and Clinical Quality Measures as the analysts review each of them to confirm they match the documentation provided from your EHR system. Entering the wrong information will only further delay the processing of your application.

To view the complete list of all pre-payment documentation requirements please go to DHS Medical Assistance Health IT Initiative website.

MA deadlines
take note of these important ehr incentive program reminders

ehr incentiveEligible Professionals New to the Medicare EHR Incentive Program in 2017
For eligible professionals (EPs) who are participating in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program for the first time in 2017, they must take one of the following actions by October 1, 2017 to avoid the 2018 payment adjustment:
  1. Attest to the Modified Stage 2 2017 EHR Incentive Program requirements; OR
  2. Submit a one-time hardship exception application if they are transitioning to the MIPS path of the Quality Payment Program and plan to report on measures specified for the Advancing Care Information performance category. The one-time hardship exception application can be found here.
EPs in the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program in 2017
EPs that attest directly to a state for that state's Medicaid EHR Incentive Program will continue to attest to the measures and objectives finalized in the 2015 EHR Incentive Programs Final Rule (80 FR 62762 through 62955). In 2017, Medicaid EPs have the option to report to the Modified Stage 2 or Stage 3 objectives and measures. As a reminder, EPs who are eligible only for the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program are not subject to payment adjustments.

For More Information
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) encourages EPs to visit the EHR Incentive Programs website for more details about the 2017 program requirements.
contact information

For more details about the Improving Hypertension and Diabetes Care & Prevention project, please email Rhonda Dodson or call 1.800.642.8686, Ext. 7711.
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