NCQA has retired the Spine Care program as of August 2012 and is no longer accepting applicants, please visit www.ncqa.org for more information.
Low back pain has a wide range of potential treatments, from simple self-care to costly (and often ineffective) surgery. To encourage more effective treatment and management, BTE worked with spine care experts to develop measures to assess and reward superior clinician performance.
To earn Recognition, clinicians must meet benchmarks around such measures as:
- Recommendations for appropriate physical activity
- Avoidance of unnecessary imaging
- Appropriate use of epidural injections and surgical procedures
- Patient education
- Shared decision-making with the patient about surgery and alternatives to surgery.
Those who do will improve overall patient health and well being, while reducing the risk of potentially avoidable complications.
HCI3 is looking to make the Spine Care program available to clinicians in 2013.