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BETHESDA, Md., May 4, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The dramatic growth in the number of colonoscopies reported through the GI Quality Improvement Consortium, Ltd. (GIQuIC) registry reached 3,000,000 cases in April.  GIQuIC is a national registry that fosters the ability of endoscopists and endoscopy facilities to benchmark themselves, and provides impetus for quality improvement.  Registry participants contribute real-time procedure-related data to GIQuIC, a joint initiative of the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Established in 2010, GIQuIC has witnessed exponential growth in its database of colonoscopies. In November 2014, the registry hit the mark of 1 million colonoscopies.  By October 2015, another million cases were added, and subsequently, growth surged with the addition of 1 million more colonoscopies in the past six months to reach a milestone of 3 million cases overall.

The growth in procedures has been driven by a surge in the growth of the number of practices and physicians involved in this quality improvement initiative. More than 4,000 providers, over a quarter of all U.S. gastroenterologists, now participate in GIQuIC – a number that has grown by 500 providers since last fall.

"The rapid growth of GIQuIC is a testament to the engagement of endoscopists in improving the care they deliver to patients and the value they find in GIQuIC's evidence-based quality indicators," said Glenn M. Eisen, MD, MPH, FASGE, Director and Vice-President of the GIQuIC Board.

"Quality reporting is being embraced in the GI profession, as was noted specifically by a CMS official, Dr. Patrick Conway, at a March 17th congressional hearing on Medicare payment reforms. GIQuIC, which had more than 1,100 participants report to CMS via its QCDR for 2015, is proud to provide a mechanism for meaningful measurement and reporting," noted Irving Pike, MD, FACG, FASGE, Director and President of the GIQuIC Board.

The reference to GIQuIC by Dr. Conway, CMS Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality, in his testimony before the House Energy and Commerce Committee can be found here: https://energycommerce.house.gov/hearings-and-votes/hearings/medicare-access-and-chip-reauthorization-act-2015-examining

GIQuIC Approved as Medicare Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR)

GIQuIC has again been approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) for individual Eligible Provider (EP) reporting to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) for the 2016 reporting year. The QCDR mechanism is a dynamic reporting option that allows providers to report on measures that are meaningful to their specialty practice and foster improvement in the quality of care provided to patients. 

For the PQRS 2015 reporting year, more than 1,100 GIQuIC participants elected to utilize the GIQuIC QCDR for their reporting. For the 2016 reporting year, the GIQuIC QCDR will support individual eligible provider reporting only.

For the 2016 reporting year, eligible providers who satisfactorily participate in the PQRS will avoid the 2018 payment adjustment of negative 2.0 percent, an adjustment that will be compounded further by the value-based payment modifier of up to an additional negative 4.0 percent, depending upon group size.  

Webinar on GIQuIC and PQRS Reporting (Physician Quality Reporting System)
GIQuIC produced a webinar to provide details surrounding the QCDR reporting option available at http://giquic.gi.org/qcdr2015.asp.  For more details about the GIQuIC registry and specifically PQRS reporting, visit www.giquic.gi.org/pqrs.asp.

About GIQuIC Quality Measures
More than 80 clinically relevant data fields for colonoscopy are collected, and more than 12 quality measures are benchmarked by GIQuIC, including adenoma detection rate, rate of cecal intubation, adherence to appropriate screening and surveillance intervals, prep assessment, and appropriate indications for procedure, among others.  Quality metrics for upper GI endoscopy (EGD) procedures are also collected in the GIQuIC registry. These measures reflect the best science and evidence base for the performance of endoscopic procedures. 

About GIQuIC
The GI Quality Improvement Consortium, Ltd. (GIQuIC) is an educational and scientific 501(c)(3) organization established by gastroenterologists, physicians specializing in digestive disorders. GIQuIC is a joint initiative of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE).  GIQuIC has developed and utilized various measurements of the endoscopic techniques of practicing gastroenterologists, a process referred to as benchmarking. These measures reflect the best science and evidence base for the performance of endoscopic procedures. This national benchmarking project began by measuring data related to common endoscopic procedures employed by gastroenterologists. Endoscopy is a minimally invasive medical procedure that is used to assess the digestive system organs by inserting a tube orally into a patient's stomach or rectally into the patient's colon. The physician founders of the GIQuIC believe that the scientific measurement of the quality of endoscopic procedures will improve the quality of the medical care being given to patients throughout the United States and abroad, and ultimately will improve the quality of public health. For more information about the GIQuIC registry, visit www.giquic.org.

About the American College of Gastroenterology
Founded in 1932, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is an organization with an international membership of more than 13,000 individuals from 80 countries. The College is committed to serving the clinically oriented digestive disease specialist through its emphasis on scholarly practice, teaching and research. The mission of the College is to serve the evolving needs of physicians in the delivery of high-quality, scientifically sound, humanistic, ethical, and cost-effective health care to gastroenterology patients. For more information, visit www.gi.org.

About the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Since its founding in 1941, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has been dedicated to advancing patient care and digestive health by promoting excellence and innovation in gastrointestinal endoscopy. ASGE, with more than 14,000 members worldwide, promotes the highest standards for endoscopic training and practice, fosters endoscopic research, recognizes distinguished contributions to endoscopy, and is the foremost resource for endoscopic education. Visit www.asge.org and www.screen4coloncancer.org for more information and to find a qualified doctor in your area.

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SOURCE American College of Gastroenterology