Digging into data: Using DataDerm™ to report for MIPS
Answers in Practice
By Victoria Houghton, managing editor, November 1, 2019
Dermatology World talks with AAD member James Schiro, MD, about using DataDerm™ — the Academy’s clinical data registry — to report measures for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).
Dermatology World: How long have you been using DataDerm™ and why did you decide to participate?
Dr. Schiro: I was one of the early beta testers and I think I was the only one who was a paper-based practice beta tester. It was good that the Academy’s DataDerm platform vendor, FIGmd, had that interaction with my practice ahead of rolling out the platform, because there were a number of ways that FIGmd had set up the data entry fields that made it difficult to work with from a paper-based practice standpoint, which they fixed after receiving our feedback.
DW: Why did you decide to participate in DataDerm?
Dr. Schiro: As I mentioned, my practice is on paper, so I wanted to be sure that the tool was going to be workable for the dermatologists who are in the latter part of their career who are paper-based practices. Additionally, prior to getting involved with DataDerm, I spent several years as the utilization management chairperson of a local health plan in my county. I was well-versed in data analysis and knew that when you’re negotiating with health plans, the one who has the data is in the position of power. I knew that we were going to really need this tool to move forward as a specialty. I can tell you that the Academy leadership, staff, and the volunteer physicians who developed this tool have really done a great service for the field of dermatology.
DW: What was your overall experience getting your practice set up with DataDerm for MIPS reporting?
Dr. Schiro: It’s been very smooth. You have the initial conference call with the folks at FIGmd to tell them how your practice records are set up. They give you the data entry tool and take you through the process of how to enter data manually if you’re on paper. Once our office set up internal procedures to gather the necessary data during a visit, I have to do very little in the way of data acquisition and entry. It’s done almost completely by my staff.
DW: How has your practice fared with MIPS?
Dr. Schiro: So far, we’ve avoided the MIPS penalty. In fact, this year we were eligible for a small positive incentive payment, which is an affirmation of the fact that we’re doing a good job. As a paper-based practice, we don’t expect to be among the highest-rewarded physicians, as we start out behind the curve because of the lack of an electronic health record system. Having the DataDerm tool enables us to participate and get that positive incentive with a very reasonable time investment.
DW: What have you learned from MIPS reporting and your DataDerm dashboard?
Dr. Schiro: I thought the melanoma measures were helpful in that they reinforced the good behavior that we’d been practicing. A couple of the measures that were developed by the Academy — such as not treating superficial BCCs with Mohs surgery — were helpful in that they reinforced proper behavior. I do some Mohs in my practice and we’ve never utilized Mohs to treat superficial BCCs. Acquiring the information to complete the data fields required reviewing our biopsy specimen logbooks for a few minutes once a week. That’s a measure that the Academy can point to and say, ‘this is one we developed internally and it’s a good quality measure because it points out something that shouldn’t be done. Our specialty is adhering to that good-practice standard.’
DW: What are your thoughts about reporting measures that are not necessarily dermatology-specific (i.e., smoking cessation counseling)?
Dr. Schiro: These measures basically reaffirm what I learned as the utilization management chairperson: The more times a patient interacts with a physician about a particular issue, such as smoking or blood sugar control, the more likely they are to accomplish that health behavior than if they are just asked about it by their primary care doctor. More points of contact about a broader range of health issues adds to the overall well-being of the patient. DataDerm enables us to demonstrate that we do that.
DW: Would you suggest that other practices adopt and utilize DataDerm?
Dr. Schiro: Yes. There may be some folks out there who are afraid of DataDerm because they are paper-based practices. The Academy is working with those of us who are still on paper, and I believe that they are going to continue to do so into the future. If there is anyone who is having second thoughts about participating in DataDerm, they can always contact those of us who are already working with it who are on paper to see how it works.
DW: What do you like best about DataDerm?
Dr. Schiro: I like how the platform is paper-practice friendly. This year, there were some changes to DataDerm data entry that posed challenges to my office manager — it was very cumbersome, and it took her several minutes to get through each entry. We provided feedback to the Academy about these issues and they made changes that helped immensely. I would say that the development team is very sensitive to feedback and they do make the necessary changes to make it easy for us to participate.
Also, I like that DataDerm gives us the ability as a specialty to show our value to the house of medicine. Again, going back to the idea of having to negotiate with insurers: Having data is immensely powerful. I think the fact that DataDerm is the Academy’s tool adds to the Academy’s strength as an organization by putting that data in our hands. That will only be good for the specialty. There’s really no downside to it.
James Schiro, MD, co-owns Drs. Rumbarger and Schiro, P.A. in Hagerstown, Maryland.
Additional DermWorld Resources
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DataDerm clinical data registry
Learn more about how DataDerm can help transform your practice and elevate the specialty at staging.aad.org/dataderm.
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