A lot is happening across the various registries that comprise the ACR National Radiology Data Registry (NRDR®). Here’s what you need to know to help your facility benchmark outcomes and process-of-care measures and develop quality improvement programs. Read on to catch up on these NRDR updates:
- NRDR Introduces New User Profile: Clinical Lead.
- DIR Link Update: Be Among the First to Benefit.
- NRDR Resources: Maximize the Benefits of Participation.
- Lung Cancer Screening Registry Updates.
- Non-Coverage Decision for Lung Cancer Screening: Impact on LCSR Data Reporting.
NRDR Introduces New User Profile: Clinical Lead
The new NRDR clinical lead user profile is designed to encourage radiologists, radiology administrators and other radiology program leaders to use the NRDR reports to monitor practice performance and initiate quality improvement projects. This new profile can be assigned to one or more NRDR users for multiple facilities and registries within a corporate account.
The clinical lead user profile enables the ACR® team to communicate significant registry enhancements — especially clinically relevant updates — to individuals who champion and oversee registry participation. We can also direct administrative communications (such as invoices, data submission and account management) to corporate account and facility staff who have other user profiles.
Please assign at least one clinical lead user for each facility as soon as possible to allow the ACR team to better target our communications based upon user profiles.
For more information about NRDR user profiles, review NRDR Accounts and Profiles and Manage User Profiles in the NRDR support portal.
DIR Link Update: Be Among the First to Benefit
In April, the ACR announced that participating Dose Index Registry (DIR) facilities will receive support to transition to DIR Link, an enhanced data transmission interface, which replaces the TRIAD Site Server. All DIR-participating facilities must transition to DIR Link by the end of 2022 for continued data submission to the DIR.
The transition to DIR Link is part of a larger data transmission initiative called ACR Connect — a next-generation, server-based platform that will support interfaces to NRDR, ACR Accreditation and other ACR clinical research initiatives.
What You Need to Do
Make sure someone from your facility who is familiar with DIR data transmission has completed the DIR Link Installation Questionnaire about your facility’s technical environment and preference for a DIR Link installation month beginning June 2022.
Note: A limited number of time slots are available each month. Please respond early to reserve time that best fits your schedule.
The ACR will contact you two weeks in advance of your time slot to schedule an installation meeting. During this meeting, the ACR team will work with your IT support and/or a facility or registry administrator to transition to DIR Link for CT scanner and fluoroscopy system data submissions. The transition process should take approximately one to three hours depending upon your facility's set up.
Learn more about the DIR Link enhancements: DIR Link Enhanced Data Transmission.
NRDR Resources: Maximize the Benefits of Participation
In recent years, the NRDR committees that guide the development of the registries have focused on offering educational webinars and start-up guides to provide participants with helpful, registry-specific information about how to maximize the benefits of participation.
These resources can be particularly valuable to help staff better understand the registry’s role in advance radiology practice and patient care, best practices for entering or submitting data and registry-specific technicalities (such as mapping exam names for the DIR).
Below are links to recently developed NRDR resources that might help you and your team get the most from your registry participation.
Webinars
- CTC Registry Training Webinars.
- Dose Index Registry Training Webinars.
- 3DP Training Webinars (developed in collaboration with RSNA).
- NMD Training Webinars Series.
Startup Guides
Lung Cancer Screening Registry Updates
The Lung Cancer Screening Registry (LCSR) Committee established a subcommittee to focus on offering registry participants quality improvement (QI) and educational opportunities. The subcommittee members identified three measures they anticipate being the most feasible and having the most impact for implementing QI initiatives. Two of the measures — improving smoking cessation and ensuring appropriate radiation dose — have been included in the LCSR since its inception.
A third, recently developed measure provides insight about the percentage of patients who have an assigned Lung-RADS® score of 1 or 2 following a screening exam and return for their annual follow-up screening 11–15 months after a previous negative screening.
Adherence to Screening Follow Up
A new report tab now available in the LCSR Facility Comparison Report presents two graphs related to adherence to the screening follow-up measure. One graph shows the number of patients who return for their annual follow-up exam (for all facilities within the same corporate account) by year, with a comparison to other facilities in the registry. Another graph presents, for a specific year, follow up by patients who returned less than 11 months, between 11 and 15 months, between 16 and 24 months and those lost to follow up.
Later this year, the adherence to screening follow-up measure will be included in the Facility Comparison report tab along with the other LCSR measures.
We’d love to hear from you about this new report feature. Please use the feedback form to let us know what you think.
Non-Coverage Decision for Lung Cancer Screening: Impact on LCSR Data Reporting
In response to CMS changes in the Lung Cancer Screening national coverage decision, the LCSR Committee reviewed the registry’s data entry requirements. They identified opportunities to ease the requirements while maintaining the registry’s focus on quality improvement.
The LCSR changes, implemented March 2022, include:
- Data elements changed from conditionally required to
- Refused to provide Social Security Number.
- Refused to provide Old Medicare Beneficiary ID.
- Refused to provide New Medicare Beneficiary ID.
- Lung-RADS version used to report results.
- Data elements changed from conditionally required to optional:
- COVID vaccination site.
- Prior history of lung cancer.
- AJCC Cancer Staging Manual edition used for staging.
- Ordering practitioner NPI.
- Ordering practitioner name.
- Data elements changed from required to optional:
- Smoking cessation guidance provided.
- Shared decision documentation.
Consult the LCSR Data Dictionary for details or submit a ticket with questions.