Patient Safety and Quality Improvement
Patient Safety
The CNS actively participates in efforts to measurably improve patient safety and quality of care, including advocacy related to the Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act. This law created a voluntary reporting program through which health care providers can share information relating to patient safety events with patient safety organizations (PSOs) on a confidential basis to improve patient safety.
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Quality Improvement
The CNS is committed to quality improvement and supports innovative efforts to provide high quality, cost-effective care to patients. While Congress has taken the first steps towards implementing quality improvement programs, the current Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS – formerly PQRI) needs to be drastically reworked to better incorporate a system for clinical data collection and reporting. A “one‐size‐fits‐all” approach will not result in better patient outcomes. The CNS supports a pay‐for‐participation system under which data regarding physician quality are collected in a nonpunitive environment and analyzed using accurate risk‐adjustment mechanisms; public reporting of data only occurs at the aggregate level and not at the individual level; and physicians receive performance feedback continually and in a timely manner. Organized neurosurgery will continue to push our message that Congress should rescind the PQRS penalties, reconsider the value‐based payment modifier, and streamline the federal quality improvement programs created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
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