Becker's Hospital Review

39 FINANCE CMO / CARE DELIVERY CMS Rolls Out 'Meaningful Measures' Initiative to Curb Burden of Quality Reporting By Mackenzie Bean C MS unveiled the "Meaningful Measures" initiative Oct. 30, which aims to reduce the regulatory hurdles associated with quality reporting. Here are three things to know. 1. The agency plans to simplify the measures hospitals and physicians must report on, zeroing in on the most important measures to improve care quality and patient outcomes. "We need to move from fee-for-service to a system that pays for value and quality — but how we define value and quality today is a problem," CMS Administrator Seema Ver- ma said Oct. 30 during a speech at the Health Care Pay- ment Learning and Action Network Fall Summit. "We all know it: Clinicians and hospitals have to report an array of measures to different payers. There are many steps in- volved in submitting them, taking time away from patients. Moreover, it's not clear whether all of these measures are actually improving patient care." 2. CMS co-developed Meaningful Measures with the Learning and Action Network, the National Academies of Medicine, the Core Quality Measures Collaborative and the National Quality Forum. Through the initiative, these groups will identify the issues most critical to quality im- provement and make sure CMS regulations reflect these core areas. "It's better to focus on achieving results, as opposed to hav- ing CMS try to micromanage and measure processes," Ms. Verma said. "The ultimate goal of Meaningful Measures is to direct efforts on high-priority areas." 3. Meaningful Measures comes a week after CMS launched "Patients Over Paperwork," an initiative aimed at identify- ing unnecessary burdens and inefficiencies that prevent healthcare providers from spending time with patients. n Study: Medical School Acceptance Rates Are Declining By Alia Paavola I n the past decade, the number of applicants to U.S. medical schools increased by approximately 30 percent, while acceptance rates have simultaneously declined, according to admissions data from the Association of American Medical Colleges. Here are five things to know about the AAMC data and statistics from U.S. News & World Report. 1. In 2016, 53,042 people applied to medical school. In 2006 only 39,108 people applied. 2. e average number of applicants to the top 10 primary care programs more than doubled between 2006 and 2016, rising from 3,273 applicants to 7,175, while the average acceptance rate at these programs fell from 8.8 percent in 2006 to 4.6 percent in 2016. 3. Excluding the top 10 primary care programs, the acceptance rate for medical school applicants fell from 10.5 percent in 2006 to 6.6 percent in 2016. 4. e average number of applicants to research programs across the nation, excluding the top 10, increased from 3,573 in 2006 to 5,869 in 2016. 5. Experts attribute the declines in acceptance rates to the increasing number of applicants who apply to more than 12 medical schools. n It's the systems that should be helping clinicians discover the fact that their minds carry confidently held misinformation. Compare today's compliance training with clinical knowledge engineering from Amplifire—a learning plat form that illuminates and eliminates confidently held misinformation. At some hospitals, our analytics engine has revealed that 35% of what clinicians think they know is really confidently held misinformation. And they have no tools to discover that fact. Knowledge engineering is that tool. It finds misinformation and fixes it. It aligns the latest evidence-based medicine with clinician confidence so care variation declines and reimbursement grows. It's fast for clinicians and pays for itself almost instantly. To learn more, please contact Julian Fleming: 617 - 335 - 2619 | jf leming@amplifire.com HEALTHCARE ALLIANCE What's letting them down? The leader in clinical knowledge engineering Amplifire-KE-3docs-1/4page.indd 1 11/13/17 4:15 PM

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