MedStar implemented radiation dose-lowering techniques for patient safety across its enterprise as part of the process to become compliant with Medicare's Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).
"And, as with all of radiology, our compliance with MACRA didn't happen unless it was accurately documented or reported," presenter Dr. Joshua Groeniger told AuntMinnie.com.
To that end, standardized reporting templates were adopted enterprise-wide, enabling uniformity across locations and ensuring that the implemented dose-lowering techniques were accurately documented for all CT studies, he said. Because a lack of documentation results in inaccurate reporting that may cause patient harm and jeopardize future reimbursement, the researchers wanted to evaluate CT dictations across their enterprise to confirm that radiologists were utilizing these standardized templates.
Using an indexed database and a specially tailored search algorithm, they created an automated query that identifies the radiologists who are least compliant in using the templates and notifies them of their noncompliance in an email, Groeniger said.
This intervention led to a statistically significant decrease in the percentage of noncompliant CT reports being generated across the enterprise, according to the team.
The study findings show that when new rules, regulations, or standards are implemented at an institutional or enterprise level, "something must be put in place to routinely monitor and ensure that the changes that have been made are communicated appropriately in real-time to allow for easy transition and accurate reporting," Groeniger said.
You can explore this project further by visiting the poster presentation in Lakeside Center.
