The Vanishing Tide: As MACRA Moves In, IBD Quality Measures Move Out

Conclusion

Quality measurement and reporting are at a crossroads. Ideally, performance improvement should be an internally driven process that addresses specific local priorities and needs. Most medical practices (73%) believe that current externally driven quality measures do not represent care quality and only 28% use their quality scores to focus their internal quality improvement activities.2 The burden and cost of external quality reporting demand better alignment with local priorities as resources are currently being diverted away from internally driven efforts that might have the greatest potential to improve patient outcomes.24 The dawn of the MACRA era presents an opportunity to shape the future of the IBD quality movement. Through validating and prioritizing existing measures and developing novel, precisely stated, and high-value metrics, there remains vast (and measurable) potential to enhance patient outcomes.

Dr. McConnell is a fellow in gastroenterology and advanced inflammatory bowel disease, division of gastroenterology, University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Velayos is professor of medicine, co–medical director, Center for Crohn’s and Colitis, University of California, San Francisco.

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