The Check Up
Relevant news, resources, and events
Vol. 2, Qtr. 2 | June 1, 2023

Find resources on the HSAG Physician Practices webpage by clicking the icons below.
Integrate Evidence-Based, Tobacco-Cessation Care Into Your Workflow

Smoking continues to be the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the United States. Tobacco users often require multiple quit attempts to become tobacco-free.
 
Evidence-based interventions are essential to tobacco cessation. Integrate the Protocol for Identifying and Treating Patients Who Use Tobacco from Million Hearts® into your practice workflow for effective tobacco cessation interventions.
 
Use local resources to help your patients quit smoking:
Develop an Effective Hypertension Medication Treatment Protocol

An effective, evidence-based protocol is necessary for hypertension control.
 
Use the Hypertension Medication Treatment Protocol (PDF) from the American Medical Association to create an individualized treatment protocol that will best fit your practice.
 
Review this presentation by the American Heart Association (AHA): Guideline-Driven Management of Hypertension: An Evidence-Based Update Webinar. Download the slide deck (PDF).
Improve Your Performance on the Diabetes: Hemoglobin A1c
Quality Measure

As you know, the Quality Payment Program (QPP) Diabetes: Hemoglobin A1c Quality Measure is an inverse measure. This means that the lower your performance rate, the better your performance score. Improve your performance score by helping your patients control their diabetes.

Refer patients to a diabetes self-management education (DSME) program near you by visiting the link above from the American Diabetes Association.
Succeed in Referring Your Patients to a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program

As per the AHA, 1 in 5 people with a myocardial infarction (MI) will be hospitalized for a second MI within 5 years. To reduce the rate of such recurrence of heart attacks, referral of a patient to a cardiac rehabilitation program within 12 months of the incident is critical and proper diagnosis coding is essential.

Review page 2 of this Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality Measure #243 document (PDF) to identify diagnosis codes that support referral to a cardiac rehabilitation program.
This material was prepared by Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG), a Quality Innovation Network-Quality Improvement Organization under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Views expressed in this material do not necessarily reflect the official views or policy of CMS or HHS, and any reference to a specific product or entity herein does not constitute endorsement of that product or entity by CMS or HHS. Publication No. QN-12SOW-XC-05222023-01