What is MIPS or PQRS Measure?

The Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) was a reporting program of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It gave eligible professionals (EPs) the opportunity to assess the quality of care they were providing to their patients, helping to ensure that patients get the right care at the right time. Now it is called as Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Quality Measures. Today we will learn about coding Measures (Measure 093, Acute Otitis Externa (AOE): Systemic Antimicrobial Therapy – Avoidance of Inappropriate Use).

The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) track of Medicare’s Quality Payment Program (QPP) includes four performance categories: quality, cost, improvement activities, and promoting interoperability (PI). The quality performance category requires clinicians to report on six measures, including at least one outcome measure. Since most family physicians will participate in MIPS and therefore are required to report quality measures, it is important they select measures appropriate for their practice needs and capabilities.

Measure specifications are detailed descriptions and instructions for each measure, and include definitions of the action/outcome required (numerator), population being measured (denominator), exceptions/exclusions to the measure, measure codes, and other details needed to correctly collect data and report the measure. Their are different Measures like Measure 093, 014, 021, 145, 146, 225 etc, which has to be coded only to specific CPT codes. We will learn specifically for each measure in detail. 

Remember: These Measures should be used only with Medicare Payer Encounters.

MIPS/PQRS Measure #093 Description

Percentage of patients aged 2 years and older with a diagnosis of AOE who were not prescribed systemic antimicrobial therapy

This measure may be submitted based on the actions of the submitting eligible clinician who performs the quality action, described in the measure, based on services provided within measure-specific denominator coding. This measure is to be submitted once for each occurrence of AOE during the performance period. For the purpose of submitting this measure, only unique occurrences with an onset of AOE diagnosing within the current performance period will be submitted. A unique occurrence of AOE is defined as the period of time that begins with the onset of AOE diagnosing and ends 30 days after the onset of diagnosing.

Eligible clinicians who submitted this measure may also find Quality ID #91: Acute Otitis Externa: Topical Therapy to be clinically relevant. The measure developer intended for Quality ID #91: Acute Otitis Externa: Topical Therapy and Quality ID #93: Acute Otitis Externa: Systemic Antimicrobial Therapy – Avoidance of Inappropriate Use to be paired measures, as they can both be implemented to measure care provided to patients diagnosed with diffuse, uncomplicated AOE.

Eligible Criteria for Measure 093:

All patients aged 2 years and older with a diagnosis of AOE

Patients aged ≥ 2 years on date of encounter

Diagnosis for AOE (ICD-10-CM): H60.311, H60.312, H60.313, H60.319, H60.321, H60.322, H60.323,H60.329, H60.331, H60.331, H60.332, H60.333, H60.339, H60.391, H60.392, H60.393, H60.399, H60.501, H60.502, H60.503, H60.509, H60.511, H60.512, H60.513, H60.519, H60.521, H60.522, H60.523, H60.529, H60.531, H60.532, H60.533, H60.539, H60.541, H60.542, H60.543, H60.549, H60.551, H60.552, H60.553, H60.559, H60.591, H60.592, H60.593, H60.599, H62.40, H62.41, H62.42, H62.43,

Patient encounter during the performance period (CPT): 99201, 99202, 99203, 99204, 99205, 99212, 99213, 99214, 99215, 99281, 99282, 99283, 99284, 99285, 99304, 99305, 99306, 99307, 99308, 99309, 99310, 99324, 99325, 99326, 99327, 99328, 99334, 99335, 99336, 99341, 99342, 99343, 99344, 99345, 99347, 99348, 99349, 99350

WITHOUT

Telehealth Modifier: GQ, GT, 95, POS 02

Systemic antimicrobial therapy not prescribed (4132F)

Documentation of medical reason(s) for prescribing systemic antimicrobial therapy (4131F with 1P)