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Physician Quality Reporting |
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Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Selects Cerner to
Participate in Quality Reporting Initiative
Other Topics:
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Cerner
May 2, 2008
Kansas City, MO -- The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
(CMS) recently announced it selected Cerner (NASDAQ: CERN) as
one of six healthcare information technology suppliers to
participate in a project that will test information technology
solutions to facilitate the submission of Physician Quality
Reporting Initiative (PQRI) measures data gathered from
electronic medical records (EMRs). The testing project will use
the data elements needed for five PQRI measures (three related
to diabetes, one to coronary-artery disease and one to heart
failure). The submission of data gathered from EMRs may serve as
one of several alternative ways eligible professionals choosing
to report PQRI measures could submit their quality data if CMS
decides to move forward with EMR-based submission in the future. |
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“The ability to submit PQRI data
pulled directly from the EMR would eliminate a tedious and
time-consuming process,” said Trace Devanny, Cerner president.
“Cerner is pleased to collaborate with CMS and other
testing-project participants to move toward an environment that
creates additional value for clinicians participating in
quality-reporting and quality-improvement initiatives.”
The PQRI provides financial incentives to healthcare
professionals who report quality data on services provided under
the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. PQRI is a first step toward
linking healthcare professionals’ payments to quality on a
national basis, consistent with Medicare’s ongoing
transformation from passive payer to active purchaser of
high-value healthcare.
The Cerner Millennium® Discern Analytics can be used by
clinicians to pull quality reporting data from the EMR to report
to CMS. By using the Discern Analytics solution, clinicians can
access reports created from the information they enter into the
EMR during the care process. According to a 2006 article from
the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association,
comparison studies of data gathered from clinical databases and
data gathered from claims information found substantial
discrepancies between the two types of data. Performance data
gathered from EMRs is typically more accurate than claims-based
data.
The University of Missouri has been working with Cerner to test
the Discern Analytics solution to allow clinicians to measure
outcomes and pinpoint areas for improvement.
“The ability to pull data directly from Cerner Millennium as
opposed to spending extra time coding and compiling data from
claims-based reporting is a huge benefit for healthcare
organizations,” said Dr. Hal Williamson, University of Missouri
professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community
Medicine. “Removing these time-consuming manual processes allows
clinicians to spend more time with patients and less time
completing paperwork.”
About Cerner
Cerner is taking the paper chart out of healthcare, eliminating
error, variance and waste in the care process. With more than
6,000 clients worldwide, Cerner is the leading supplier of
healthcare information technology. The following are trademarks
of Cerner: Cerner, Cerner’s logo and Cerner Millennium. NASDAQ:
CERN. www.cerner.com. |
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