Measure Description
Percentage of patients aged 2 years and older with a diagnosis of AOE who were not prescribed systemic antimicrobial therapy.
Instructions
This measure may be submitted based on the actions of the submitting Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) eligible clinician who performs the quality action, described in the measure, based on services provided within measure-specific denominator coding. This measure is to be submitted once for each occurrence of AOE during the performance period. For the purpose of submitting this measure, only unique occurrences with an onset of AOE diagnosing within the current performance period will be submitted. A unique occurrence of AOE is defined as the period of time that begins with the onset of AOE diagnosing and ends 30 days after the onset of diagnosing.
NOTE: Patient encounters for this measure conducted via telehealth (e.g., encounters coded with GQ, GT, 95, or POS 02 modifiers) are allowable.
Measure Submission Type:
Measure data may be submitted by individual MIPS eligible clinicians, groups, or third party intermediaries. The listed denominator criteria are used to identify the intended patient population. The numerator options included in this specification are used to submit the quality actions as allowed by the measure. The quality data codes listed do not need to be submitted by MIPS eligible clinicians, groups, or third party intermediaries that utilize this modality for submissions; however, these codes may be submitted for those third party intermediaries that utilize Medicare Part B claims data. For more information regarding Application Programming Interface (API), please refer to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) website.
Denominator
All patients aged 2 years and older with a diagnosis of AOE
DENOMINATOR NOTE: A new diagnosis code indicates a new occurrence of AOE. If a patient presents with right ear AOE then returns with new onset of left ear AOE symptoms, then the left ear AOE would be considered a new unique occurrence, separate from the right ear AOE.
Denominator Criteria (Eligible Cases):
Patients aged ≥ 2 years on date of encounter
AND
Diagnosis for AOE (ICD-10-CM): H60.311, H60.312, H60.313, H60.319, H60.321, H60.322, H60.323, H60.329, H60.331, H60.332, H60.333, H60.339, H60.391, H60.392, H60.393, H60.399, H60.501, H60.502, H60.503, H60.509, H60.511, H60.512, H60.513, H60.519, H60.521, H60.522, H60.523, H60.529, H60.531, H60.532, H60.533, H60.539, H60.541, H60.542, H60.543, H60.549, H60.551, H60.552, H60.553, H60.559, H60.591, H60.592, H60.593, H60.599, H62.40, H62.41, H62.42, H62.43
AND
Patient encounter during the performance period (CPT): 99202, 99203, 99204, 99205, 99212, 99213, 99214, 99215, 99281, 99282, 99283, 99284, 99285, 99304, 99305, 99306, 99307, 99308, 99309, 99310, 99341, 99342, 99344, 99345, 99347, 99348, 99349, 99350
Numerator
Patients who were not prescribed systemic antimicrobial therapy
Numerator Instructions:
For performance, the measure will be calculated as the number of patients for whom systemic antimicrobial therapy was not prescribed over the number of patients in the denominator (patients aged 2 years and older with acute otitis externa). A higher score indicates appropriate treatment of patients with AOE (e.g., the proportion for whom systemic antimicrobials were not prescribed).
NUMERATOR NOTE: Denominator Exception is determined on the date of the denominator eligible episode.
Numerator Options:
Performance Met: Systemic antimicrobial therapy not prescribed (4132F)
OR
Denominator Exception: Documentation of medical reason(s) for prescribing systemic antimicrobial therapy (4131F with 1P)
OR
Performance Not Met: Systemic antimicrobial therapy prescribed (4131F)
Rationale
Despite their limited utility, about 20-40 percent of patients with AOE receive oral antibiotics, often in addition to topical therapy. “There are no data on the efficacy of systemic therapy using appropriate antibacterials and stratified by severity of the infection. Moreover, orally administered antibiotics have significant adverse effects that include rashes, vomiting, diarrhea, allergic reactions, altered nasopharyngeal flora, and development of bacterial resistance.”1 The use of systemic antimicrobial therapy to treat AOE should be limited only to those clinical situations in which it is indicated.
1Rosenfeld RM, Schwartz SR, Cannon CR, Roland PS, Simon GR, Kumar KA, et al. Clinical practice guideline: acute otitis externa. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2014;150(1 Suppl):S1–S24. [PubMed]
Clinical Recommendation Statements
Clinicians should not prescribe systemic antimicrobials as initial therapy for diffuse, uncomplicated AOE unless there is extension outside the ear canal or the presence of specific host factors that would indicate a need for systemic therapy.
Strong recommendation based on randomized controlled trials with minor limitations and a preponderance of benefit over harm. [Aggregate evidence quality – Grade B] (AAO-HNSF, 2014)