eCQM Title

Diabetic Retinopathy: Communication with the Physician Managing Ongoing Diabetes Care

eCQM Identifier (Measure Authoring Tool) 142 eCQM Version number 8.1.000
NQF Number 0089e GUID 53d6d7c3-43fb-4d24-8099-17e74c022c05
Measurement Period January 1, 20XX through December 31, 20XX
Measure Steward PCPI(R) Foundation (PCPI[R])
Measure Developer American Medical Association (AMA)
Measure Developer PCPI(R) Foundation (PCPI[R])
Endorsed By National Quality Forum
Description
Percentage of patients aged 18 years and older with a diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy who had a dilated macular or fundus exam performed with documented communication to the physician who manages the ongoing care of the patient with diabetes mellitus regarding the findings of the macular or fundus exam at least once within 12 months
Copyright
Copyright 2019 PCPI(R) Foundation and American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
Disclaimer
The Measure is not a clinical guideline, does not establish a standard of medical care, and has not been tested for all potential applications. 

The Measure, while copyrighted, can be reproduced and distributed, without modification, for noncommercial purposes, e.g., use by health care providers in connection with their practices. Commercial use is defined as the sale, license, or distribution of the Measure for commercial gain, or incorporation of the Measure into a product or service that is sold, licensed or distributed for commercial gain. 

Commercial uses of the Measure require a license agreement between the user and the PCPI(R) Foundation (PCPI[R]) or the American Medical Association (AMA). Neither the AMA, nor the former AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement(R) (AMA-PCPI), nor PCPI, nor their members shall be responsible for any use of the Measure.

The National Committee for Quality Assurance's significant past efforts and contributions to the development and updating of the Measure is acknowledged. 

AMA and PCPI encourage use of the Measure by other health care professionals, where appropriate.

THE MEASURE AND SPECIFICATIONS ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.
 
Limited proprietary coding is contained in the Measure specifications for convenience. Users of the proprietary code sets should obtain all necessary licenses from the owners of these code sets. The AMA, PCPI, and its members and former members of the AMA-PCPI disclaim all liability for use or accuracy of any Current Procedural Terminology (CPT[R]) or other coding contained in the specifications. 

CPT(R) contained in the Measure specifications is copyright 2004-2018 American Medical Association. LOINC(R) is copyright 2004-2018 Regenstrief Institute, Inc. This material contains SNOMED Clinical Terms(R) (SNOMED CT[R]) copyright 2004-2018 International Health Terminology Standards Development Organisation. ICD-10 is copyright 2018 World Health Organization. All Rights Reserved.

Due to technical limitations, registered trademarks are indicated by (R) or [R].
Measure Scoring Proportion
Measure Type Process
Stratification
None
Risk Adjustment
None
Rate Aggregation
None
Rationale
The primary care physician that manages the ongoing care of the patient with diabetes should be aware of the patient's dilated eye examination and severity of retinopathy to manage the ongoing diabetes care. Such communication is important in assisting the physician to better manage the diabetes. Several studies have shown that better management of diabetes is directly related to lower rates of development of diabetic eye disease (Diabetes Control and Complications Trial -DCCT, UK Prospective Diabetes Study - UKPDS).
Clinical Recommendation Statement
The ophthalmologist should refer patients with diabetes to a primary care physician for appropriate management of their systemic condition, and should communicate examination results to the physician managing the patient's ongoing diabetes care (III; Good Quality; Strong Recommendation) (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2017).

Ophthalmologists should communicate the ophthalmologic findings and level of retinopathy with the primary care physician as well as the need for optimizing metabolic control (III; Good Quality; Strong Recommendation) (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2017). 

Close partnership with the primary care physician is important to make sure that the care of the patient is optimized (III; Good Quality; Strong Recommendation) (American Academy of Ophthalmology, 2017).
Improvement Notation
Higher score indicates better quality
Reference
American Academy of Ophthalmology, Retina/Vitreous Panel. (2017). Preferred Practice Pattern(R) guidelines: Diabetic retinopathy. San Francisco, CA: American Academy of Ophthalmology. Retrieved from https://www.aao.org/preferred-practice-pattern/diabetic-retinopathy-ppp-updated-2017
Definition
Communication - May include documentation in the medical record indicating that the findings of the dilated macular or fundus exam were communicated (e.g., verbally, by letter) with the clinician managing the patient's diabetic care OR a copy of a letter in the medical record to the clinician managing the patient's diabetic care outlining the findings of the dilated macular or fundus exam.

Findings - Includes level of severity of retinopathy (e.g., mild nonproliferative, moderate nonproliferative, severe nonproliferative, very severe nonproliferative, proliferative) AND the presence or absence of macular edema.
Guidance
The measure, as written, does not specifically require documentation of laterality. Coding limitations in particular clinical terminologies do not currently allow for that level of specificity (ICD-10-CM includes laterality, but ICD-9-CM and SNOMED-CT do not uniformly include this distinction). Therefore, at this time, it is not a requirement of this measure to indicate laterality of the diagnoses, findings or procedures. Available coding to capture the data elements specified in this measure has been provided. It is assumed that the eligible professional or eligible clinician will record laterality in the patient medical record, as quality care and clinical documentation should include laterality.

The communication of results to the primary care physician providing ongoing care of a patient's diabetes should be completed soon after the dilated exam is performed. Eligible professionals or eligible clinicians reporting on this measure should note that all data for the reporting year is to be submitted by the deadline established by CMS. Therefore, eligible professionals or eligible clinicians who see patients towards the end of the reporting period (i.e., December in particular), should communicate the results of the dilated macular exam as soon as possible in order for those patients to be counted in the measure numerator. Communicating the results as soon as possible after the date of the exam will ensure the data are included in the submission to CMS.
Transmission Format
TBD
Initial Population
All patients aged 18 years and older with a diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy
Denominator
Equals Initial Population who had a dilated macular or fundus exam performed
Denominator Exclusions
None
Numerator
Patients with documentation, at least once within 12 months, of the findings of the dilated macular or fundus exam via communication to the physician who manages the patient's diabetic care
Numerator Exclusions
Not Applicable
Denominator Exceptions
Documentation of medical reason(s) for not communicating the findings of the dilated macular or fundus exam to the physician who manages the ongoing care of the patient with diabetes.

Documentation of patient reason(s) for not communicating the findings of the dilated macular or fundus exam to the physician who manages the ongoing care of the patient with diabetes.
Supplemental Data Elements
For every patient evaluated by this measure also identify payer, race, ethnicity and sex

Table of Contents


Population Criteria

Definitions

Functions

Terminology

Data Criteria (QDM Data Elements)

Supplemental Data Elements

Risk Adjustment Variables


Measure Set
None