GIQuIC Colonoscopy Quality Registry Reaches 2 Million Colonoscopy Cases

BETHESDA, Md., Oct. 16, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The GI Quality Improvement Consortium, Ltd. (GIQuIC), a joint initiative of the American College of Gastroenterology and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, announced today that more than 2,000,000 colonoscopy cases have been submitted to its national registry of endoscopic procedures.

GIQuIC registry participants have contributed real-time procedure related data from over two million colonoscopies, reflecting exponential growth of a million procedures in less than one year.  The GIQuIC registry hit the one million mark in November 2014.  In the past year, the increase in procedures documented has been driven by a surge in the growth of the number of practices and physicians involved in this quality improvement initiative.

GIQuIC is a national registry that fosters the ability of endoscopists and endoscopy facilities to benchmark their performance, and provides impetus for quality improvement. Over 80 clinically relevant data fields for colonoscopy are collected and more than 12 quality measures are benchmarked, including adenoma detection rate, rate of cecal intubation, adherence to appropriate screening and surveillance intervals, prep assessment, appropriate indications for procedure, among others.  Quality metrics for EGD procedures are also collected in the GIQuIC registry. These measures reflect the best science and evidence base for the performance of endoscopic procedures. 

The milestone of two million colonoscopies in the registry demonstrates that GIQuIC has become widely adopted by US gastroenterologists who are committed to improving the care they deliver to patients. "As many as a quarter of all US gastroenterologists, some 3,500 endoscopists, are now contributing data to the GIQuIC registry and their engagement in quality improvement is driving the rapid growth in the number of cases in the past year," commented Irving Pike, MD, FACG, FASGE, Director and President of the GIQuIC Board.

"The growth of the dataset enhances the GIQuIC registry as a robust resource for clinicians and researchers alike, with each additional case adding to the value of the registry as a benchmarking tool," said Glenn M. Eisen, MD, MPH, FASGE, Director and Vice-President of the GIQuIC Board.

In 2014 and again in 2015, CMS approved the GIQuIC registry as a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR), which is a new reporting mechanism for the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS). This reporting option allows providers to report on measures that are meaningful to their specialty practice and will foster improvement in the quality of care provided to patients while being in compliance.

About GIQuIC
The GI Quality Improvement Consortium, Ltd. (GIQuIC) is an educational and scientific 501(c)(3) organization established by gastroenterologists, physicians specializing in digestive disorders. GIQuIC is a joint initiative of the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE). GIQuIC has developed and utilizes various measurements of the endoscopic techniques of practicing gastroenterologists, a process referred to as benchmarking. These measures reflect the best science and evidence base for the performance of endoscopic procedures. This national benchmarking project began by measuring data related to common endoscopic procedures employed by gastroenterologists. Endoscopy is a minimally invasive medical procedure that is used to assess the digestive system organs by inserting a tube orally into a patient's stomach or rectally into the patient's colon. The physician founders of GIQuIC believe that the scientific measurement of the quality of endoscopic procedures will improve the quality of the medical care being given to patients throughout the United States and abroad, and ultimately will improve the quality of public health. For more information about the GIQuIC registry, visit www.giquic.org.

About the American College of Gastroenterology
Founded in 1932, the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) is an organization with an international membership of more than 13,000 individuals from 80 countries. The College is committed to serving the clinically oriented digestive disease specialist through its emphasis on scholarly practice, teaching and research. The mission of the College is to serve the evolving needs of physicians in the delivery of high quality, scientifically sound, humanistic, ethical, and cost-effective health care to gastroenterology patients. For more information, visit www.gi.org.

About the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy
Since its founding in 1941, the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) has been dedicated to advancing patient care and digestive health by promoting excellence and innovation in gastrointestinal endoscopy. ASGE, with more than 14,000 members worldwide, promotes the highest standards for endoscopic training and practice, fosters endoscopic research, recognizes distinguished contributions to endoscopy, and is the foremost resource for endoscopic education. Visit www.asge.org and www.screen4coloncancer.org for more information and to find a qualified doctor in your area.

SOURCE GI Quality Improvement Consortium, Ltd. (GIQuIC)

Related Links

http://www.giquic.org