The growth of the NCDR registries and their expanding role in quality improvement and hospital reimbursement will take center stage when registry participants gather in Chicago, IL, for NCDR.16, held March 31 – April 1, at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel and Towers.

The LAAO Registry, which launched in December 2015, and the AFib Ablation Registry, set to launch in spring 2016, will be discussed in preconference sessions designed to share best practices and speed implementation. "These two new registries will collect real-world data to track and evaluate the use of the proliferation of options for both stroke prevention and treatment in the fast-growing population of patients with atrial fibrillation,” says ACC President-Elect Richard A. Chazal, MD, FACC.

Underscoring the increasing importance of NCDR data in today’s reimbursement environment, an NCDR Encore session will be held on April 2 during ACC.16 to provide an overview of current registry-related topics.

Participation is increasing in ACC’s 10 NCDR hospital and outpatient registries. Reflecting this growth, NCDR.16 will be the largest conference to date, with more than 1,200 registry professionals, quality experts, cardiovascular administrators, and physicians coming together for a program focused on helping hospitals manage their data during a time of significant change for reimbursement and expansion of public reporting.

NCDR.16 is being held at a critical juncture, when registries are poised for accelerated growth and impact due to their ability to improve the quality of health care delivery and patient outcomes, and more efficiently utilize resources. Additionally, in response to the new Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, the NCDR will be providing data that directly impact reimbursement to hospitals and physician practices. Further, the auditing of NCDR data makes the registries particularly unique and valuable.

The endorsement of many of NCDR’s performance measures by the National Quality Forum makes the NCDR registries an “important linchpin for monitoring measures that are tied to value-based reimbursement,” says Ralph G. Brindis, MD, MPH, MACC, NCDR.16 co-chair. The ability of the NCDR to show value underscores its importance at this time, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and commercial payers are using NCDR data to make differential reimbursement for the demonstration of quality in the cardiovascular space.

The keynote lecture by Thomas H. Lee, MD, MSc, will set the stage for understanding the strategic importance of quality improvement in the current environment. Other presentations from national quality leaders will provide insights into the role of specific registries within national quality improvement efforts, providing context for the work in the trenches in the hospitals. Attendees can customize the program to their own interests and their role on the quality team, selecting from deep-dive concurrent workshops focusing on registry-specific education and challenging case studies regarding accurate data entry to discover new tools and techniques.

Best practices are shared in the poster sessions, where quality initiatives and outcomes are presented. “The networking that occurs leads to long-term relationships in terms of teaching each other best practices and how to conquer local barriers for the implementation of effective strategies,” says Brindis.

The Interprofessional Track at NCDR.16 builds on the growing participation of hospital administrators and physician champions in the conference and formalizes the education specific to their roles in the team. Among the topics in this track are leveraging NCDR to engage physicians, communicating quality up the ladder, creating data displays to effect change, and understanding the role of the registry stakeholders.

“This is my favorite meeting of the year because it is an opportunity for everyone on the quality team to come together and identify ways to make their quality even better, and to bring the NCDR to life in relation to informing activities within their hospital to improve care and outcomes of patients at a very practical level,” says Frederick A. Masoudi, MD, MSPH, FACC, chair of the NCDR Management Board.

Keywords: Cardiology Magazine, ACC Publications, Atrial Fibrillation, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S., Data Display, Disease Management, Medicaid, Medicare, Quality Improvement, Registries, National Cardiovascular Data Registries

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