Inquiry Around Best Practices

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    • Type: Hosp Inpt eCQMs - Hospital Inpatient eCQMs
    • Resolution: Answered
    • Priority: Moderate
    • Component/s: Guidance
    • None
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      Thank you for your question regarding CMS506v7, Safe Use of Opioids - Concurrent Prescribing. Home medications are counted because the measure focuses on all medications reconciled at the point of care, regardless of where they were prescribed. The intent of this measure is not to achieve a rate of zero percent of patients discharged on multiple opioids or on an opioid and benzodiazepine combination. Rather, the goal is to identify patients who are prescribed these combinations, as they are associated with an increased risk of adverse events and complications. We do appreciate your feedback, however currently, there are no plans to exclude patients with home medications from this measure.
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      Thank you for your question regarding CMS506v7, Safe Use of Opioids - Concurrent Prescribing. Home medications are counted because the measure focuses on all medications reconciled at the point of care, regardless of where they were prescribed. The intent of this measure is not to achieve a rate of zero percent of patients discharged on multiple opioids or on an opioid and benzodiazepine combination. Rather, the goal is to identify patients who are prescribed these combinations, as they are associated with an increased risk of adverse events and complications. We do appreciate your feedback, however currently, there are no plans to exclude patients with home medications from this measure.
    • CMS0071v15
    • Safe Use of Opioids

       I recently viewed TJC's presentation around the Safe Use of Opioids presentation. My hospital is engaged in this initiative, and I am reaching out to see if you might be willing to share any current ideas or best practices you've seen around this measure. The primary challenge we see at my institution is that the vast majority of dual opioids/benzo combinations are patients coming in from the community. Since we are an acute care facility, the majority of providers on the inpatient side do not have the ability to begin weaning these medications without abruptly discontinuing them, which could cause withdrawal and patient harm. While we focus on new starts, I'd love to better understand why home medications are counted in the numerator and what other institutions may be doing to address this challenge. Appreciate any thoughts. Thank you

            Assignee:
            Mathematica EH eCQM Team
            Reporter:
            Allen Gandhi
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