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Prostate Cancer: Avoidance of Overuse of Bone Scan for Staging Low Risk Prostate Cancer Patients

Compare Versions of: "Prostate Cancer: Avoidance of Overuse of Bone Scan for Staging Low Risk Prostate Cancer Patients"

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Measure Information 2022 Performance Period 2023 Performance Period 2024 Performance Period
Title Prostate Cancer: Avoidance of Overuse of Bone Scan for Staging Low Risk Prostate Cancer Patients Prostate Cancer: Avoidance of Overuse of Bone Scan for Staging Low Risk Prostate Cancer Patients Prostate Cancer: Avoidance of Overuse of Bone Scan for Staging Low Risk Prostate Cancer Patients
CMS eCQM ID CMS129v11 CMS129v12 CMS129v13
CBE ID 0389e 0389e Not Applicable
MIPS Quality ID 102 102 102
Description

Percentage of patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of prostate cancer at low (or very low) risk of recurrence receiving interstitial prostate brachytherapy, OR external beam radiotherapy to the prostate, OR radical prostatectomy who did not have a bone scan performed at any time since diagnosis of prostate cancer

Percentage of patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of prostate cancer at low (or very low) risk of recurrence receiving interstitial prostate brachytherapy, OR external beam radiotherapy to the prostate, OR radical prostatectomy who did not have a bone scan performed at any time since diagnosis of prostate cancer

Percentage of patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of prostate cancer at low (or very low) risk of recurrence receiving interstitial prostate brachytherapy, OR external beam radiotherapy to the prostate, OR radical prostatectomy who did not have a bone scan performed at any time since diagnosis of prostate cancer

Definition *See CMS129v11.html *See CMS129v12.html

Risk Strata Definitions: Very Low, Low, Intermediate, High, or Very High

Very Low/Low Risk - PSA < 10 ng/mL; AND Gleason score 6 or less/Gleason grade group 1; AND clinical stage T1 to T2a.

Intermediate Risk - PSA 10 to 20 ng/mL; OR Gleason score 7/Gleason grade group 2-3; OR clinical stage T2b to T2c.

High/Very High Risk - PSA > 20 ng/mL; OR Gleason score 8 to 10/Gleason grade group 4-5; OR clinically localized stage T3 to T4 (adapted from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 2018).

External beam radiotherapy - external beam radiotherapy refers to 3D conformal radiation therapy, intensity modulated radiation therapy, stereotactic body radiotherapy, and proton beam therapy.

Bone scan - bone scan refers to the conventional technetium-99m-MDP bone scan as well as 18F-NaF PET (or PET/CT) scan.

Initial Population

All patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of prostate cancer

All patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of prostate cancer

All patients, regardless of age, with a diagnosis of prostate cancer

Numerator

Patients who did not have a bone scan performed at any time since diagnosis of prostate cancer

Patients who did not have a bone scan performed at any time since diagnosis of prostate cancer

Patients who did not have a bone scan performed at any time since diagnosis of prostate cancer

Numerator Exclusions

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Denominator

Equals Initial Population at low (or very low) risk of recurrence receiving interstitial prostate brachytherapy, OR external beam radiotherapy to the prostate, OR radical prostatectomy

Equals Initial Population at low (or very low) risk of recurrence receiving interstitial prostate brachytherapy, OR external beam radiotherapy to the prostate, OR radical prostatectomy

Equals Initial Population at low (or very low) risk of recurrence receiving interstitial prostate brachytherapy, OR external beam radiotherapy to the prostate, OR radical prostatectomy

Denominator Exclusions

None

None

None

Denominator Exceptions

Documentation of reason(s) for performing a bone scan (including documented pain, salvage therapy, other medical reasons, or bone scan ordered by someone other than reporting clinician)

Documentation of reason(s) for performing a bone scan (including documented pain, salvage therapy, other medical reasons, or bone scan ordered by someone other than reporting clinician)

Documentation of reason(s) for performing a bone scan (including documented pain, salvage therapy, other medical reasons, or bone scan ordered by someone other than reporting clinician)

Measure Steward Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Measure Scoring Proportion measure Proportion measure Proportion measure
Measure Type Process measure Process measure Process measure
Improvement Notation

Higher score indicates better quality

Higher score indicates better quality

Higher score indicates better quality

Guidance

A higher score indicates appropriate treatment of patients with prostate cancer at low (or very low) risk of recurrence. Only patients with prostate cancer with low (or very low) risk of recurrence will be counted in the performance denominator of this measure.

This eCQM is a patient-based measure.

Telehealth encounters are not eligible for this measure because the measure does not contain telehealth-eligible codes.

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

A higher score indicates appropriate treatment of patients with prostate cancer at low (or very low) risk of recurrence. Only patients with prostate cancer with low (or very low) risk of recurrence will be counted in the performance denominator of this measure.

This eCQM is a patient-based measure.

Telehealth encounters are not eligible for this measure because the measure does not contain telehealth-eligible codes.

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

A higher score indicates appropriate treatment of patients with prostate cancer at low (or very low) risk of recurrence. Only patients with prostate cancer with low (or very low) risk of recurrence will be counted in the performance denominator of this measure.

In 2022, the American Urological Association published guidance recommending that clinicians not perform bone scan in asymptomatic patients with low- or intermediate-risk prostate cancer. However, this quality measure remains focused on patients with low (or very low) risk of recurrence.

This eCQM is a patient-based measure.

Telehealth encounters are not eligible for this measure because the measure does not contain telehealth-eligible codes.

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

Telehealth Eligible No No No
Rationale *See CMS129v11.html *See CMS129v12.html

Multiple studies have indicated that a bone scan is not clinically necessary for staging prostate cancer in men with a low (or very low) risk of recurrence and receiving primary therapy. For patients who are categorized as low-risk, bone scans are unlikely to identify their disease. Furthermore, bone scans are not necessary for low-risk patients who have no history of bony involvement or if the clinical examination suggests no bony involvement. Less than 1% of low-risk patients are at risk of metastatic disease.

While clinical practice guidelines do not recommend bone scans in low-risk prostate cancer patients, overuse is still common. An analysis of prostate cancer patients in the Surveillance, Epidemiology and End Results Medicare database diagnosed from 2004-2007 found that 43% of patients for whom a bone scan was not recommended received it (Falchook, Hendrix, & Chen, 2015). The analysis also found that the use of bone scans in low-risk patients leads to an annual cost of $4 million dollars to Medicare. The overuse of bone scan imaging for low-risk prostate cancer patients is a concept included on the American Urological Association's (AUA) list in the Choosing Wisely Initiative as a means to promote adherence to evidence-based imaging practices and to reduce health care dollars wasted (AUA, 2019). This measure is intended to promote adherence to evidence-based imaging practices, lessen the financial burden of unnecessary imaging, and ultimately to improve the quality of care for prostate cancer patients in the United States.

Stratification *See CMS129v11.html *See CMS129v12.html

None

Risk Adjustment *See CMS129v11.html *See CMS129v12.html

None

Clinical Recommendation Statement *See CMS129v11.html *See CMS129v12.html

For symptomatic patients and/or those with a life expectancy of greater than 5 years, bone imaging is appropriate for patients with unfavorable intermediate-risk prostate cancer, high-risk and very-high-risk prostate cancer (National Comprehensive Cancer Network, 2022) (Evidence Level: Category 2A).

Clinicians should not perform routine bone scans in the staging of asymptomatic very low- or low-risk localized prostate cancer patients (AUA, American Society for Radiation Oncology, & Society of Urologic Oncology, 2017) (Strong Recommendation; Evidence Level: Grade C).

Very low-risk or low-risk patients are unlikely to have disease identified by bone scan. Accordingly, bone scans are generally unnecessary in patients with newly diagnosed prostate cancer who have a PSA <10.0 ng/mL and a Gleason score less than 7 unless the patient’s history or clinical examination suggests bony involvement. Progression to the bone is much more common in advanced local disease or in high-grade disease that is characterized by fast and aggressive growth into surrounding areas such as bones or lymph nodes (AUA, 2019).

Next Version No Version Available
Previous Version No Version Available

Header

  • Updated copyright.

    Measure Section: Copyright

    Source of Change: Annual Update

  • Updated version number of the Quality Data Model (QDM) used in the measure specification to v5.6.

    Measure Section: Guidance

    Source of Change: Standards/Technical Update

Logic

  • Replaced direct reference code SNOMED CT code (258232002) with direct reference code SNOMED CT code (254292007) based on terminology updates and review by technical experts, SMEs, and/or public feedback.

    Measure Section: Denominator

    Source of Change: Annual Update

  • Updated the version number of the Measure Authoring Tool (MAT) Global Common Functions Library to v7.0.000.

    Measure Section: Multiple Sections

    Source of Change: Standards/Technical Update

  • Updated the version of the Quality Data Model (QDM) to 5.6 and Clinical Quality Language (CQL) to 1.5.

    Measure Section: Multiple Sections

    Source of Change: Standards/Technical Update

Value set

The VSAC is the source of truth for the value set content, please visit the VSAC for downloads of current value sets.

  • Replaced direct reference code SNOMED CT code (258232002) with direct reference code SNOMED CT code (254292007) based on terminology updates and review by technical experts, SMEs, and/or public feedback.

    Measure Section: Terminology

    Source of Change: Annual Update

Last Updated: Mar 04, 2024