AAN Publishes Parkinson's Disease Quality Measures

The AAN has developed quality measures for the care of patients with Parkinson's disease. Designed to measure and improve the quality of care that is provided, these measures—the first developed solely by the AAN—were published in the November 30, 2010, edition of Neurology.

The AAN quality measures for Parkinson's disease were developed with an emphasis on the nonmotor aspects of PD such as depression, sleep, and falls that can be overlooked but have a great impact on quality of life. Members are encouraged to use the measures in their practices.

The Parkinson's disease measures also will be incorporated into a Performance in Practice (PIP) module for Parkinson's disease, an AAN quality improvement tool that is designed to meet the Maintenance of Certification (MOC) PIP requirements mandated by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology (ABPN). This module will be released in the first quarter of 2011.

Recently passed health care reform legislation contains provisions for 0.5 percent of Medicare billings in 2011 for clinicians who participate in maintenance of certification programs and also participate in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Additionally, one does not have to be an ABPN diplomate or applying for MOC to participate. This effort by CMS to incentivize participation in MOC PIP improvement programs establishes a link between certification and payment.

Given these changes, quality measures development is an increasingly important initiative for specialty societies such as the AAN. The AAN is working on developing measures in epilepsy, stroke, dementia, neuropathy, headache, and multiple sclerosis. Members are encouraged to be involved by suggesting measure topic nominations to the Quality Measurement and Reporting Subcommittee.

Source: http://hcp.lv/fhRLYD