Oncology: Medical and Radiation - Pain Intensity Quantified

This eCQM is an episode-of-care measure; the level of analysis for this measure is every visit for patients with a diagnosis of cancer who are also currently receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy during the measurement period.

For patients receiving radiation therapy, pain intensity should be quantified at each radiation treatment management encounter where the patient and physician have a face-to-face interaction. Due to the nature of some applicable coding related to radiation therapy (e.g., delivered in multiple fractions), the billing date for certain codes may or may not be the same as the face-to-face encounter date. In this instance, for the reporting purposes of this measure, the billing date should be used to pull the appropriate patients into the initial population. It is expected, though, that the numerator criteria would be performed at the time of the actual face-to-face encounter during the series of treatments. A lookback (retrospective) period of 7 days, including the billing date, may be used to identify the actual face-to-face encounter, which is required to assess the numerator. Therefore, pain intensity should be quantified during the face-to-face encounter occurring on the actual billing date or within the 6 days prior to the billing date.

For patients receiving chemotherapy, pain intensity should be quantified at each face-to-face encounter with the physician while the patient is currently receiving chemotherapy. For purposes of identifying eligible encounters, patients "currently receiving chemotherapy" refers to patients administered chemotherapy within 30 days prior to the encounter AND administered chemotherapy within 30 days after the date of the encounter.

Pain intensity should be quantified using a standard instrument, such as a 0-10 numerical rating scale, visual analog scale, a categorical scale, or pictorial scale. Examples include the Faces Pain Rating Scale and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI).

This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.5. Please refer to the eCQI resource center for more information on the QDM.

This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each eligible encounter for patients with a diagnosis of cancer who are also currently receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy during the measurement period.

For patients receiving radiation therapy, pain intensity should be quantified at each radiation treatment management encounter where the patient and physician have a face-to-face or telehealth interaction. Due to the nature of some applicable coding related to radiation therapy (e.g., delivered in multiple fractions), the billing date for certain codes may or may not be the same as the face-to-face or telehealth encounter date. In this instance, for the reporting purposes of this measure, the billing date should be used to pull the appropriate patients into the initial population. It is expected, though, that the numerator criteria would be performed at the time of the actual face-to-face or telehealth encounter during the series of treatments. A lookback (retrospective) period of 7 days, including the billing date, may be used to identify the actual face-to-face or telehealth encounter, which is required to assess the numerator. Therefore, pain intensity should be quantified during the face-to-face or telehealth encounter occurring on the actual billing date or within the 6 days prior to the billing date.

For patients receiving chemotherapy, pain intensity should be quantified at each face-to-face or telehealth encounter with the physician while the patient is currently receiving chemotherapy. For purposes of identifying eligible encounters, patients "currently receiving chemotherapy" refers to patients administered chemotherapy on the same day as the encounter or during the 30 days before the date of the encounter AND during the 30 days after the date of the encounter.

Pain intensity should be quantified using a standard instrument, such as a 0-10 numerical rating scale, visual analog scale, a categorical scale, or pictorial scale. Examples include the Faces Pain Rating Scale and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI).

This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.5. Please refer to the eCQI resource center for more information on the QDM.

This eCQM is an episode-based measure. An episode is defined as each eligible encounter for patients with a diagnosis of cancer who are also currently receiving chemotherapy or radiation therapy during the measurement period.

For patients receiving radiation therapy, pain intensity should be quantified at each radiation treatment management encounter where the patient and physician have a face-to-face or telehealth interaction. Due to the nature of some applicable coding related to radiation therapy (e.g., delivered in multiple fractions), the billing date for certain codes may or may not be the same as the face-to-face or telehealth encounter date. In this instance, for the reporting purposes of this measure, the billing date should be used to pull the appropriate patients into the initial population. It is expected, though, that the numerator criteria would be performed at the time of the actual face-to-face or telehealth encounter during the series of treatments. A lookback (retrospective) period of 7 days, including the billing date, may be used to identify the actual face-to-face or telehealth encounter, which is required to assess the numerator. Therefore, pain intensity should be quantified during the face-to-face or telehealth encounter occurring on the actual billing date or within the 6 days prior to the billing date.

For patients receiving chemotherapy, pain intensity should be quantified at each face-to-face or telehealth encounter with the physician while the patient is currently receiving chemotherapy. For purposes of identifying eligible encounters, patients "currently receiving chemotherapy" refers to patients administered chemotherapy on the same day as the encounter or during the 30 days before the date of the encounter AND during the 30 days after the date of the encounter.

Pain intensity should be quantified using a standard instrument, such as a 0-10 numerical rating scale, visual analog scale, a categorical scale, or pictorial scale. Examples include the Faces Pain Rating Scale and the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI).

This version of the eCQM uses QDM version 5.6. Please refer to the QDM page for more information on the QDM.