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Topic starter
We are wondering how often other specialty clinics are recording height, weight, BMI, BP, and smoking status? We currently are doing it at every visit for all patients to ensure we meet meaningful use, but this is overwhelming and overkill I think.
Thanks in advance for any assistance.
Posted : February 20, 2013 12:25 am
Just as an FYI... Prior to this year, it was all or nothing in terms of whether you could claim the exclusion for relevance. If one was clinically relevant for every visit, you had to record all of them or you couldn't meet MU. Starting in 2013, you can claim exclusions on individual vital signs that aren't clinically relevant to every visit. Depending on the specialty and need for each element (which you would have to determine), you may be able to ease up on some of what you've been doing. Here's a link to a CMS tip sheet on changes to MU when Stage 2 Final came out.
Posted : February 20, 2013 2:20 am
Topic starter
Thanks Mitch….It is not that the vitals are not relevant…they are – we are a surgical practice. We just don't think every patient at every visit needs height, weight, BP, etc. and are wanting to know what other clinics are doing.
Thanks
Amanda
Posted : February 20, 2013 2:41 am
The verbiage of the NUMERATIOR: Number of patients in the denominator who have at LEAST one entry of their height, weight and blood pressure are recorded as structured data.
Not sure if that is at least once in the reporting period or calendar year? We tried asking and never received a straight answer.
Posted : February 20, 2013 6:47 am
Because it's "unique patient", they are counted once during the reporting period, and you do not have to record vitals for every visit. If you're in the first year of MU, it's within the 90-day period. For subsequent years, it's for the calendar year (with the exception of 2014 in which everyone reports on a calendar quarter). I've worked with specialty practices on MU projects, and this is how we've approached this objective.
From CMS documentation:
"Height, weight, and blood pressure do not have to be updated by the EP at every patient encounter. The EP can make the determination based on the patient's individual circumstances as to whether height, weight, and blood pressure need to be updated."
Posted : February 20, 2013 9:57 pm
