PQRS Cataract Measures Group
Are you planning to report the Cataract Measures Group to satisfy your PQRS reporting in 2015? If so, there are several key points to adhere to for successful reporting.
A Measures Group is a subset of four or more measures that have a particular clinical condition or focus in common. The Cataracts Measures Group may only be reported through a registry.
In 2015, four additional measures were added to the four measures that previously made up the cataract measure group. Two of the measures are new in 2015 and two general health measures were added to the measures group. All eight measures must be reported for each patient.
Using the measures group requires reporting the measures group for twenty or more patients; more than half, at least eleven (11), must be Medicare FFS patients. Because this measures group involves information only attainable after the 90 day postoperative period, all procedures considered for this measures group will need to be performed by September 30, 2015.
Two measures require patient surveys, Measures 303 and 304. A few important points about the surveys include:
1. Measure 303 requires the same survey to be used both pre-op and post-op. The two identical surveys are “scored” based on how the patient answered the questions pre- and post-surgery.
2. Measure 304 utilizes a survey that is not specific to cataract surgery. It is a general survey regarding the patient’s surgical experience.
3. The PQRS Specification Manual indicates how the survey is “delivered”. It states:
It is the responsibility of a third party, which may be the registry or another third party designated by the eligible professional to administer, receive results, and review the surveys. Each registry must work directly with eligible professionals who wish to report these measures to determine who (a registry or another third party) will be administering, receiving and reviewing the surveys.
You should check with your Registry about how surveys are given to patients.
The cataract measures group is a viable option for reporting PQRS but understanding how it works is crucial to your success in reporting it.