for 2018. Data collection begins in 2018, but the measure won't impact
reimbursement until 2020. A few points worth noting:
• The measure applies only to cases involving general or neuraxial
anesthesia, which impair the body's ability to control thermoregula-
tion. Patients who are under either monitored anesthesia care or
treated with nerve blocks are exempt.
• The measure doesn't include cases lasting less than an hour, even
those that use general or neuraxial anesthesia.
• You must submit data directly to CMS via a web-based tool.
"There's a lot of latitude in this measure," says anesthesiologist
David Shapiro, MD, an ASC Quality Collaboration board member.
"For example, you may not be reporting on a patient who is in for a
55-minute surgery, but you still need to make sure that patient is nor-
mothermic, for so many physiologic reasons. This measure is really
about bringing more attention to the issue. Now is the time to make
sure you have all the processes in place, and that you have strategized
with your entire facility about how to collect the data needed to meet
the specs of the measure."
Eventually, the metric will likely be tied to the overall patient experi-
ence scores, says Dr. Shapiro. For now, however, it's about awareness
and making sure facilities are focused on patient safety.
"Like all the measures in the ASCQRP, you're being paid for report-
ing rather than for performance," he says. "It doesn't matter what
grade you get as long as you take the test."
But he sees benefits as well. In addition to increasing awareness of
the importance of keeping patients warm, the measure will institution-
alize and popularize the assessments of patients when they come out
of the OR.
ASCs will submit a simple equation — a numerator over a denomi-
nator — as part of their regular ASCQRP reporting. You divide the
6 0 • O U T PA T I E N T S U R G E R Y M A G A Z I N E • A U G U S T 2 0 1 7
