Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Approves QOPI® as Pathway for Federally Required Quality Reporting

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has approved ASCO’s Quality Oncology Practice Initiative (QOPI®) as a pathway for oncologists to meet the agency’s quality reporting requirements. Starting in the fall of 2014, oncology practices registered with QOPI will have the opportunity to fulfill CMS’ Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) or Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) reporting requirements through QOPI.

“Oncology practices are striving to demonstrate their increasing quality of care using the most efficient system possible,” said ASCO Immediate Past President Clifford A. Hudis, MD, FACP. “Hence, we are excited that we can offer them the opportunity to meet their CMS requirements while simultaneously reporting through QOPI.”

A provision in the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 allows clinical data registries approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide pathways for physicians to meet their federal quality reporting requirement. ASCO worked with other medical specialty societies to achieve bipartisan support for this key provision, and then worked to ensure that QOPI met HHS’ requirements for approval.

Improving the Quality of Care

Launched in 2006, QOPI is the first national program to help practices improve the quality of care they deliver. The program enables practices to examine the quality of care they are providing to patients based on how well they are performing across all aspects of cancer care.

QOPI’s rigorous set of more than 160 quality measures were developed by practicing oncologists and quality experts and span the continuum of cancer care. The quality metrics are based on best practices derived from clinical guidelines, published measures, and collective expert consensus. More than 900 practices are registered with QOPI.

Practices receive detailed reports demonstrating their performance level compared with the QOPI national average. The reports provide information to guide improvement efforts. 

In addition, practices will have the opportunity to submit their data electronically via eQOPI, a reporting pathway that accepts structured data elements output from their electronic health record, which will be available during the 2014 fall reporting round.

“This is the latest step in QOPI’s evolution, and we recognize all of the volunteers who participate in ASCO’s quality improvement activities on our patients’ behalf,” said Douglas W. Blayney, MD, FASCO, Chair of the QOPI Steering Group. “ASCO will continue to expand QOPI to make quality reporting as seamless as possible for practices.”

To learn more about QOPI, please visit qopi.asco.org. ■