Initiation and Engagement of Alcohol and Other Drug Dependence Treatment

The percentage of adolescent and adult patients with a new episode of alcohol or other drug (AOD) dependence who received the following.
- Initiation of AOD Treatment. The percentage of patients who initiate treatment through an inpatient AOD admission, outpatient visit, intensive outpatient encounter or partial hospitalization within 14 days of the diagnosis.
- Engagement of AOD Treatment. The percentage of patients who initiated treatment and who had two or more additional services with a diagnosis of AOD within 30 days of the initiation visit.

Date Reviewed: July 21, 2018
Do Not Support
    Group/Practice Health Plan Individual Clinician Integrated Delivery System

Measure Info

MIPS 305 NQF 0004 CMS 305 NQF Endorsed
Measure Type
Process
Measure Steward
National Committee for Quality Assurance
Clinical Topic Area
Prevention and Wellness
Substance Use
Care Setting
Emergency Department and Services
Inpatient
Outpatient
Data Source
Claims
Electronic Health Records

ACP does not support MIPS measure #305 (NQF measure #0004): “Initiation and Engagement of Alcohol and Other Drug Dependence Treatment” because the specifications are flawed and the measure is not appropriately specified to evaluate performance at the level of the individual clinician.

Developers should consider dividing the numerator statement to form two discrete measures: 1) initiation of alcohol and other drug dependence treatment; and 2) engagement of alcohol and other drug dependence treatment. Also, it is unclear what constitutes a “new episode of drug or alcohol dependency.”

While it is appropriate for accreditors and regulators to use this measure in programs designed to assess quality at the level of the health system, regulators should not include this measure in accountability programs designed to assess performance of individual clinicians. It is unclear whether individual clinicians will be able to control the outcomes of this measure. Individual clinicians will likely face interoperability challenges to data collection.