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2021: A Year in Review
Report from the AQUA Registry
Client Account Coordinator (CAC) Structure
By Mary Nolin, MA, Registry Project Coordinator
In May of 2021, the AQUA Registry announced the new Client Account Coordinator (CAC) Program. Each participating practice is assigned a CAC to work alongside with the FIGmd’s Client Account Managers (CAMs). The goal of the CAC program is to provide you with a single point of contact to assist with onboarding, customer service and the daily progress of your account. As your partner in quality improvement, the CAC will work with FIGmd CAMs, as needed, to help answer any of your reported questions or concerns.
To facilitate the process, we continue to ask that you use the AQUA@AUAnet.org email address to communicate with the AQUA Registry. By doing so, a service ticket will be generated, which will alert your designated CAC of any issues that may arise.
Meet your AQUA Registry CAC Team
Kimberly Ross, MPH
AQUA Registry Operations Manager
Mary Nolin, MA
AQUA Registry Project Coordinator
Ilma Imamovic, MA
AQUA Registry Project Coordinator
Ugomma Etoh
AQUA Registry Project Coordinator
IntrinsiQ Specialty Solutions (IQSS) Partnership
By: Ilma Imamovic, MA, Registry Project Coordinator
In late 2020, the AUA finalized its collaboration with IntrinsiQ Specialty Solutions (IQSS). This collaboration allowed Urochart customers more opportunities when it comes to participating with the AQUA Registry—some for the very first time.
For the 2021 performance year, all Urochart clients were instructed to go through their vendor to select one of two AQUA Registry participation options—“Quality Reporting Engagement Group (QREG)” or “AQUA Only.” The primary difference being, QREG clients receive additional MIPS consulting services, through Urochart, whereas the AQUA Only clients do not.
As a result of the IQSS collaboration, the AQUA Registry recruited a total of 150 Urochart practices (694 providers) during the 2021 performance year. All 150 Urochart practices will be reporting for 2021 MIPS through the AQUA Registry. If you are a Urochart client and would like to learn more about the collaboration, please contact AQUARegistry@AUAnet.org.
Registry Insights
Registry Participants by the Numbers
By: Kimberly Ross, MPH, AQUA Registry Operations Manager, Mary Nolin, MA, Registry Project Coordinator,
William Meeks III, MS, Data Operations Manager, and Cody Weiss, MS, Statistical Analyst
2021 flew by and the AQUA Registry has been moving along too! As we reflect on the past year, we would like to share with you some of the milestones we have reached together.
National Coverage
The increased participation in 2021, has enhanced the robustness of the AQUA Registry data as it now contains:
User Experience
Customer Service Survey
By: Ilma Imamovic, MA, Registry Project Coordinator
Each year the AQUA Registry team disseminates a customer experience survey to all active participants. The purpose of the survey is to touch base with our participants, get a better sense of what our participants want to get out of the registry and to identify any overarching participant trends. In prior versions of the survey, we have covered some of the following topic areas:
- Frequency of dashboard access
- Practices' level of agreement with measure calculations
- Potential registry value propositions/tools
- Ideas for future measure topics
The next customer experience survey will be disseminated in June 2022. In the coming months, please look for the survey link and consider completing the questionnaire, as we value your feedback and use it to shape future registry areas of focus. Additionally, if you have any ideas for potential survey questions, we invite you to share them with us at AQUARegistry@AUAnet.org.
Looking Ahead
Real World Usage
By: Raymond Fang, MSc, Director, Data Management & Statistical Analysis, and
Keonna Confesor, MS, Data Program Analyst (Coordinator)
Besides being used to calculate and report measure scores as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR), the real-world data collected from participating practices through providers’ electronic health systems represent a large number of patients with various urologic diseases across the country. De-identified data can support health services research to develop disease-specific treatment patterns and identify associations between treatment options and patient outcomes. Real-world evidence helps fill current knowledge gaps and advance the science of urology. All data used for research and publication are de-identified to protect the privacy of participating practices, providers and patients.
The following abstracts and papers are just a sample of how the data in the AQUA Registry can be used to help shape the future of urology. Please click on the links below to be taken directly to the content and send an email to dataservices@AUAnet.org if you are interested in starting a research project using the AQUA data.
Abstracts
- Patient-Level Validation of Prostate Cancer Data Collected Via Automated Extraction From Structured and Unstructured Electronic Health Record (EHR) Records
- The National Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on US Prostate Cancer Community Care
Publications
- Significant management Variability of Urethral stricture Disease in United States
- Characteristics of Participants in the AUA Quality (AQUA) Registry and Early Impact of Participation on Quality of Care
- Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Urology Care Delivery in the United States
2022 Subscription Levels and Pricing Model
By: Ilma Imamovic, MA, Registry Project Coordinator
The 2022 AQUA Registry Renewal period will run from December 1, 2021- January 14, 2022. The AUA is pleased to share that there are no AUA AQUA Registry participation fee changes for 2022. In addition, there are no AUA fees associated with the Standard participation level and MIPS reporting options will continue to be available at an additional cost. View the list of AQUA registry benefits below.
After the 2022 renewal period, AQUA practice participants will only be required to select a subscription level upon sign-up with the AQUA Registry. The selected subscription level will renew, automatically, each year for the life of practice’s participation in the Registry, unless:
- AUA alters subscription options; OR
- The practice provides notice, by December 31, of its intent to change subscription levels for the following year
We look forward to a successful 2022 and we thank you for your participation!
Important Dates
| 2021 | |
| DEC 31 | Deadline to Submit an Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exemption Application for 2021 MIPS The Extreme and Uncontrollable Circumstances Exception Application deadline for PY 2021 is December 31, 2021 at 8 p.m. ET. For more information: https://qpp.cms.gov/mips/exception-applications |
| 2022 | |
| FEB 18 | Deadline to Submit Data Release Consent Form (DRCF) for 2021 MIPS Reporting CMS requires a signed Data Release Consent Form (DRCF) for each MIPS reporting year. This form allows the AQUA Registry to submit data to CMS on your behalf, in order to satisfy MIPS reporting requirements. |
| MAR 15 | AQUA Registry deadline to submit data to CMS for 2021 MIPS reporting The AQUA Registry’s submission deadline is March 15, 2022. Our internal deadline provides us with time to troubleshoot any submission errors, prior to the CMS reporting deadline. |
Tips & Tricks
On November 2, 2021 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published the CY 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Final Rule, which includes the final policies for the 2022 performance year of the Quality Payment Program (QPP). The rule affects traditional MIPS, MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs), the Alternative Payment Model (APM) Performance Pathway (APP), Advanced APMs, and the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program).
Some key QPP policies in the 2022 performance year include, but are not limited to:
- Revising the definition of a MIPS eligible clinician to include social workers and certified nurse mid-wives.
- Setting the MIPS performance threshold at 75 points and the exceptional performance threshold at 89 points.
- Weighting the cost and quality performance categories equally at 30%.
- Extending the CMS Web Interface as a collection type, and submission type, in traditional MIPS for registered groups, virtual groups, and APM Entities for the 2022 performance year only.
- Finalizing a longer transition for electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs)/MIPS clinical quality measures (CQMs) measure reporting for Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) by extending the CMS Web Interface as an option for 3 years (through the 2024 performance year).
To learn more about the CY2022 PFS Final Rule and all of the 2022 QPP finalized policies, please visit CMS’ QPP website. Alternatively, you can email the QPP team at QPP@cms.hhs.gov.
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