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Adult Sinusitis: Appropriate Choice of Antibiotic Prescribed for Acute Sinusitis (Overuse)

Percentage of patients, aged 18 years and older, with a diagnosis of acute sinusitis who were prescribed an antibiotic within 10 days after onset of symptoms.

Date Reviewed: November 19, 2017

Measure Info

MIPS 331 CMS 331
Measure Type
Process
Measure Steward
American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery
Clinical Topic Area
Sinusitis

Care Setting
Outpatient
Data Source
Registry

91黑料网 does not support QPP measure 331: "Adult Sinusitis: Appropriate Choice of Antibiotic Prescribed for Acute Sinusitis (Overuse)." While it is clinically important to promote appropriate antibiotic therapy in patients diagnosed with acute sinusitis, we note several issues with this measure. First, the numerator specifications do not define an appropriate performance rate and a 0% performance rate will promote underuse of antibiotic therapy in appropriate treatment cases. Furthermore, the numerator specifications define 鈥渁cute sinusitis鈥 according to typical bacterial infection symptoms and it is appropriate to prescribe antibiotics to treat a bacterial infection. Developers should consider revising denominator specifications to define 鈥渁cute sinusitis鈥 according to viral symptoms to prevent overuse of antibiotic therapy in viral sinusitis infections. Second, the measure does not align with the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) clinical recommendation on treatment of acute bacterial sinusitis. IDSA recommends initiating antibiotic therapy in patients with symptoms > 10 days, severe or worsening symptoms (102 degrees F fever with nasal discharge) > 3 days, onset with worsening symptoms/double sickening patients (new onset of fever, headache, or increased nasal discharge following viral URI) > 5-6 days. Third, denominator specifications include exclusion criteria for 鈥渕edical reason for not prescribing treatment鈥; however, measure developers should explicitly define exceptions according to the IDSA guidelines in order to avoid underuse of appropriate antibiotic therapy. Finally, while we support inclusion of appropriate exclusion criteria, inclusion of broad exclusion criteria may provide opportunity for measure manipulation by reporting clinicians.