T-System, Inc., the nation’s largest provider of emergency department (ED) clinical documentation solutions announces updates to their emergency physician template systems with the new Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) measures instituted by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS). The PQRI program replaces the Physician Voluntary Reporting Program (PVRP) and will involve all emergency care providers (i.e., physician assistants and nurse practitioners), not just physicians. CMS will begin collecting the PQRI data on July 1, 2007.
To date, 74 quality measures have been incorporated into PQRI.
T-System focused on the 10 measures most closely related to emergency medicine. They include:
- Aspirin on arrival for AMI
- Beta blocker on arrival for AMI
- ECG performed for non-traumatic chest pain
- ECG performed for syncope
- Vital signs for CAP
- Assessment of oxygen saturation for CAP
- Assessment of mental status for CAP
- Empiric antibiotic for CAP
- t-PA considered in ischemic stroke
- Dysphagia screening in acute stroke
Revisions have been made to The T System® paper templates, the ED Orders module (part of T-System’s pathway solutions) and the ED Information System, The T SystemEV® to make it easier for providers to document and coders to capture all relevant PQRI data.
In the
T-System templates modifications are now present in the Clinical Impression section to allow for more accurate data extraction, and in the Progress section with added space to document what measures were addressed and how, and if the patient was not eligible then why. Additionally, a new Quality Reporting Addendum is a quick reference list of the new emergency medicine-related PQRI measures and core measures, which includes explanations next to each as to why a patient was not eligible to receive a recommended test or therapy.
“
T-System is committed to providing our customers with the easiest, most efficient and accurate documentation solutions and services to enable compliance with any quality measures imposed on emergency providers by the various regulatory and insurance agencies,” said Mike Hansen, President and CEO of
T-System. “We will continue to monitor changes to existing programs that affect emergency medicine, inform our customers when such changes impact their practice, and make the appropriate modifications to our documentation solutions when necessary.”
Participation in the PQRI program is voluntary in 2007, but offers monetary incentives for participating providers who successfully report data per CMS guidelines. Incentives are expected to increase in 2008 and penalties could be imposed upon providers who do not participate and/or do not meet reporting thresholds. Therefore, CMS is strongly urging providers to take advantage of the voluntary period to gain understanding and experience in using and reporting with the new PQRI program.
For more information and specific details of the PQRI program and each measure, visit
CMS website or email
T-System. Additionally,
T-System invites all clients to participate in an informational WebEx™ May 23 & 30 and June 6, 11, 20, & 27. Clients should call the
T-System Customer Care department for instructions on how to join at 1-866-TSYSTEM (1-866-879-7836).
About T-System
Founded over a decade ago,
T-System, Inc. and
T-System Technologies, Ltd. (The T System), combine an uncommon collaboration of clinicians, technologists and service professionals dedicated to serving the current and future clinical documentation needs of emergency medicine. Headquartered in Dallas, Texas,
T-System is the leading provider of clinical documentation solutions for emergency medicine.
T-System's family of leading clinical solutions are designed to improve patient safety, clinical efficiency, clinician satisfaction, risk management, workflow and CMS compliance for emergency departments and urgent care centers. Today, more than 1,700 civilian and military emergency departments in the United States, Puerto Rico, Australia and around the world partner with
T-System for their clinical documentation needs. For more information, please visit
www.tsystem.com, or contact Joe Lastinger at (800) 667-2482.
