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May 2012
In This Issue:
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CMS Releases Official National Coverage
Determination for TAVR
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The Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)
has announced approval of a National
Coverage Determination (NCD) for
transcatheter aortic valve
replacement (TAVR). The announcement
follows an analysis based on an NCD
request from the American College of
Cardiology (ACC) and The Society of
Thoracic Surgeons (STS) in late
2011. |
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The NCD addresses coverage for TAVR when
performed with an FDA-approved device consistent
with labeled indications and any other FDA
requirements. In addition, it permits Medicare
coverage only in facilities meeting certain
requirements. The NCD also requires all patients
to be included in a national TAVR registry.
Medicare coverage will be available for
non-FDA-approved indications when performed in a
CMS-approved clinical study.
The STS/ACC TVT Registry™, created by STS and
the ACC, will support hospitals in meeting the
registry participation requirement. This
national registry for TAVR procedures was
developed in partnership with CMS and the
Federal Drug Administration (FDA), Edwards
Lifesciences, and with input from The Society
for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention
and the American Association for Thoracic
Surgery. Backed by the specialized expertise of
the ACC’s NCDR® and the STS National
Database, the registry will track patient safety
and real-world outcomes related to this new
procedure through the capture and reporting of
patient demographics, procedure details, and
facility and physician information.
For information about the TVT Registry and how
to join, visit
www.tvtregistry.org or call (800)
257-4737.
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NCDR to Launch New Registry Dashboards
Following the success of the CathPCI Registry®
Dashboard, the NCDR is launching dashboards for
the ACTION Registry®-GWTG™ and ICD
Registry™. A new way to access outcomes reports
online, NCDR registry dashboards provide on
demand access to reports and allow facilities to
compare their outcomes to others. The dashboards
are part of an ongoing effort to provide
meaningful data, improve cardiovascular care and
deliver value to our users.
When the dashboards launch later this month,
ACTION Registry-GWTG and ICD Registry
participants will be able to log into
www.ncdr.com as usual, but their
Institutional Outcomes Reports and Data Quality
Reports (DQR) will be accessible on a newly
designed webpage. The new “Dashboard”
will allow access to “eReports”
on demand where users can “drill down” to the
patient level within the Executive Summary
Metrics and a “Comparator”
option where hospitals can create their own
facility comparison groups for the Executive
Summary Metrics.
Training for ICD Registry participants will be
held on Tuesday, May 15th at 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
Please watch for more information to be posted
on the Announcements section on the
ICD Registry homepage. For ACTION
Registry-GWTG training, please watch for
announcements to be posted on the
ACTION Registry-GWTG homepage and in
the NCDR Registry Update emails sent to
NCDR participants every other Wednesday.
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CathPCI Registry Dashboard Enhancements
CathPCI Registry participants will also benefit
from the launch of the ACTION Registry-GWTG and
ICD Registry Dashboards later this month. When
the new dashboards are launched, CathPCI
Registry participants will be able to access and
query data from the current quarter, as well as
from previous quarters. More information will be
provided during the next CathPCI Registry Site
Manager call scheduled for Thursday, May 17 at
1:00 p.m. Eastern. Visit the
CathPCI Registry homepage for more
information about the upcoming call.
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NCDR Research at QCOR
The NCDR is pleased to announce that 14
abstracts based on data from NCDR registries
will be presented during the American Heart
Association’s Quality of Care and Outcomes
Research 2012 Scientific Sessions (QCOR 2012),
taking place May 9-11 in Atlanta. Data from
several NCDR hospital-based registries and the
practice-based PINNACLE Registry will be
highlighted, demonstrating the growing
application of NCDR data in clinical research.
If you are attending QCOR, we encourage you to
see these important abstracts. Access the QCOR
online itinerary and program planner for the
date and location of each presentation.
Oral Presentations
Effectiveness of Bleeding Avoidance Strategies
in Women and Men Following Percutaneous Coronary
Interventions: A Report from the NCDR − Stacie
Daugherty
Hospital PCI Appropriateness and In-Hospital
Procedural Outcomes: Insights from the NCDR −
Steven Bradley − Finalist for the
2012 QCOR Young Investigator Award
A Validated Contemporary Risk Model of Acute
Kidney Injury in Patients Undergoing
Percutaneous Coronary Interventions: Insights
from the NCDR CathPCI Registry − Thomas Tsai
Poster Presentations
Assessing Performance Perceptions and Realities
in Outpatient Atrial Fibrillation Care − Nathan
Glusenkamp
Association of Chronic Lung Disease with
Treatments and Outcomes in 158,890 Patients with
Acute Myocardial Infarction: Results from the
NCDR − Jonathan Enriquez
Clinical Symptoms and Angiographic Findings of
Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary
Intervention without Prior Stress Testing:
Insights from the NCDR − Mouin Abdallah
Incidence, Treatment and Outcomes of Cardiogenic
Shock in STEMI and NSTEMI: Results from ACTION
Registry-GWTG − Monique Anderson
Is In-hospital Mortality in ST-elevation
Myocardial Infarction Associated with Core
Measure Compliance? A Report from the ACTION
Registry-GWTG− Stephen Rennyson
Million Hearts and the PINNACLE Registry:
Preliminary Data − Nathan Glusenkamp
Outcomes of Single and Dual Chamber ICDs for
Primary Prevention of Sudden Cardiac Death −
Pamela Peterson
Patterns and Predictors of Stress Testing
Modality after Percutaneous Coronary
Intervention: Retrospective Analysis using the
NCDR − Michael Booth and Jeffery Federspiel
Practice-level Variation in Use of Recommended
Medications among Outpatients with Heart
Failure: Insights from the NCDR PINNACLE
Registry − Pamela Peterson
Practice Variation is a Significant Contributor
to Secondary Prevention Medication Use: Insights
from the NCDR PINNACLE Registry − Tom Maddox
Voluntary Registry Participation Rapidly
Improves Physician Quality Performance: A Single
Practice Experience − David May
Additionally, the following abstract will be
presented during the Society for Cardiovascular
Angiography and Interventions (SCAI) 2012
Scientific Sessions taking place May 9-12 in Las
Vegas:
Predicting In-Hospital Cardiovascular Events
Following Carotid Artery Stenting: The
Development of a Risk Model Using the NCDR CARE
Registry − Beau Hawkins
For more information about NCDR research and how
analysis of NCDR data can be used to answer
healthcare delivery and clinical questions,
visit
www.ncdr.com/research.
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If You Haven’t Joined Us on LinkedIn®,
Connect with your Colleagues Today
The NCDR has two new LinkedIn groups, the NCDR
Participants Group and the NCDR Research Group,
both offering opportunities for you to connect
with your colleagues and the NCDR.
The newly created NCDR Participants
Group is a place for networking,
discussions on high-level registry and quality
improvement topics and the exchange of ideas.
Physicians, nurses, data abstractors,
cardiovascular care team members, quality
improvement professionals, researchers, hospital
administrators and other individuals involved or
interested in the NCDR are invited to join.
This NCDR participant community is intended to
foster conversations centering on process,
quality improvement and best practices. The
group will not serve as a forum for detailed
clinical discussions or questions regarding the
data dictionaries or registry administration.
Questions of this nature should still be
directed to the NCDR Service Center at
ncdr@acc.org or (800) 257-4737.
The NCDR Research Network Group
allows physicians, researchers and other
individuals interested in cardiovascular
research to engage in discussions on
cardiovascular research findings and
opportunities to conduct research based on
clinical data collected through the NCDR.
Through the group, participants will receive
updates on the latest research published from
the NCDR.
To join the NCDR Participant Subgroup, search
for “NCDR Participants” within LinkedIn Groups
and click the “Join Group” button. To join the
NCDR research community, search for “NCDR
Research Network” within LinkedIn Groups and
click the “Join Group” button. Once you have
joined a subgroup, you will also be accepted
into its parent group, the
American College of Cardiology, if you are
not already a member.
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CMS Accepts PINNACLE Registry® 2011
PQRS and eRx Submissions
At the end of March, the PINNACLE Registry
successfully completed submission to the Centers
for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for 626
providers across 47 practices for the 2011
Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) and
e-Prescribing (eRx) incentive programs. Last
year, the registry submitted for 535 unique
provider TIN/NPI combinations across 37
practices.
Successful reporting for 2011 PQRS will earn
providers up to a 1 percent incentive payment on
all 2011 Medicare Part B FFS claims. Of the 626
providers, 343 also submitted for the 2011
e-Prescribing (eRx) incentive through the
registry, for an additional 1 percent incentive.
PQRS submission is an optional benefit offered
to practices currently submitting data to the
PINNACLE Registry. Enrollment for 2012
submission eligibility is ongoing. For more
information about the PINNACLE Registry, visit
www.pinnacleregistry.org.
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PINNACLE Registry Participants Urged to Take
Action NOW to Avoid the 2013 eRx Penalty
By law, CMS is required to reduce Medicare
payments to providers who do not electronically
prescribe and for whom at least 10 percent of
their Medicare payments are associated with
certain types of office visits. Providers who do
not report will have their 2013 Medicare
payments reduced by 1.5 percent. The eRx penalty
is provider level; each provider must
successfully report to avoid the penalty.
There were two reporting options for avoiding
the 2013 penalty. Option 1: successfully
reporting of 25 instances per individual
provider by registry or by claims covering the
full year 2011 reporting period; or, Option 2:
reporting of 10 instances per individual
provider reported via claims from January 1,
2012 to June 30, 2012. The deadline for option
1, reporting via registry, has passed but
providers can still report via claims to avoid
the 2013 penalty. But they must do so by June
30, 2012.
Even if providers reported through the PINNACLE
Registry for the 2011 incentive, we strongly
recommend they submit an additional 10 instances
per provider via claims before June 30, 2012.
We’re recommending this additional step to
ensure practices avoid the penalty because it
will be too late to take any action by the time
CMS determines the results of 2011
registry-based eRx reporting in August 2012.
Visit the
Health IT section of CardioSource.org
to learn more about e-prescribing, and to access
FAQs and slides focused on navigating the
federal eRx program and clarifying confusion
around requirements.
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Using PINNACLE Registry Data to Develop an
Effective QI Program
Join us for the second in the PINNACLE Network’s
2012 Webinar Series Data Does the Talking:
Effectively Using Tools for Quality and Cost
Improvement to hear first-hand how five
different practices are using their PINNACLE
Registry data to improve practice quality,
efficiency and revenue.
The View from PINNACLE Registry: A Look
Inside How Data Drive QI
Monday, May 14 at 7:00 – 8:00 pm EDT
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Learn how to systematically review your data
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Understand the critical steps required to
create a successful QI program using your
data
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Hear how other practices are using PINNACLE
Registry to support their QI initiatives
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Click here to register now for the
webinar
Speakers
Blair Erb, MD, FACC, Chair of the PINNACLE
Network Work Group; along with David May, MD,
PhD, FACC; Michael Mirro, MD, FACC; Ganpat
Thakker, MD, FACC; Molly Flynn, MBA, MHA; and
Sherry Shults, RN, BSN.
Register now and get CME credits
For more information and to register,
click here. To learn more about PINNACLE
Network, visit the
PINNACLE Network webpage. For questions
about the PINNACLE Network, contact Arielle
Fingerman at
afingerm@acc.org or Laura Ritzenthaler
at
lritzent@acc.org.
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Become a Cardiac Care Associate
Network with care team colleagues and advance
your career as a Cardiac Care Associate (CCA)
member of the American College of Cardiology! As
a member, you’ll join a network of CV
professionals dedicated to improving
cardiovascular care, and gain access to benefits
like the JACC journals, online networking
opportunities, full access to CardioSource and
much more. Find out more on how to join at
www.CardioSource.org/Join.
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New ERA 2.0 for Atrial Fibrillation
Launches
What can PINNACLE Registry data tell you about
your care for patients with atrial fibrillation
(AF)? Guidelines for the care of AF patients are
well established but gaps in care have been
noted. A New ERA 2.0 has been developed
to help address the challenge of finding
opportunities to improve care for this patient
population. Practices participating in the
PINNACLE Registry will experience a streamlined
process for obtaining practice data because
clinical metrics will be automatically
calculated for A New ERA 2.0. By participating
in this free MOC Part IV activity, PINNACLE
Registry participants will gain access to point
of care tools and other resources to help with
AF patient management. Visit
www.CardioSource.org/afibpi for
registration information.
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