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EC eCQMs - Eligible Clinicians
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Resolution: Redirected
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Moderate
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None
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None
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Ben Chappell
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University of Colorado Medicine
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CMS0002v14
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It has come to our attention that patients who are admitted electively for endobronchial valve (EBV) procedures are being captured as acute hospital admissions. EBVs are only placed when a patient's COPD is clinically stable. This is not an indicator of poor primary or specialty care, but an indicator of advanced cutting-edge, high-quality care for patients with the severe end-stage COPD. The procedure requires inpatient hospitalization, with patients typically admitted for 3-5 days. At our institution, the primary diagnoses for the admissions are ICD-10 J44.9, J43.9, J43.2.
As per the Measure Information for the Multiple Chronic Care Conditions (MCC) Risk-standardized Hospital Admission Rates for Patients for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Groups
Performance Year (PY) 2025 MCC Measure Code Specifications, January 1 – December 31, 2025
From: CU Medicine and University of Colorado Hospital
Consistent with the approach CMS has taken for other admission and readmission measures, the measure excludes planned hospital admissions because planned admissions are not a signal of poor-quality care. Planned admissions are those planned by providers and patients for anticipated medical treatment or procedures that must be provided in the inpatient setting. Most planned admissions are part of ongoing clinical care and do not represent acute events that could have been prevented by high-quality care. Moreover, for ambulatory patients with chronic diseases, admissions for certain planned procedures (e.g., placement of a cardiac device designed to prolong life) are consistent with the highest quality of care. For these reasons, planned admissions are not counted in the measure outcome.
Endobronchial Insertion Procedure Codes to be added the always planned or potentially planned procedures.
Table PAA1 | Planned admission algorithm: always planned procedures |
Table PAA2 | Planned admission algorithm: always planned diagnoses |
Table PAA3 | Planned admission algorithm: potentially planned procedures |
Table PAA4 | Planned admission algorithm: acute diagnoses |
We believe this is an oversight as the procedure is relatively new and some hospitals do not have physicians who perform the procedure.
List of the Endobronchial Valve Insertion CPT codes: 31647, 31648, 31649, 31651
Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Lisa Schilling and Ben Chappell