AGA Launches Digestive Health Outcomes Registry in Partnership with MedAssurant

BETHESDA, Md. and BOWIE, Md., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) and MedAssurant, Inc., announce the launch of the largest patient registry in the GI field, the AGA Digestive Health Outcomes Registry™.  The AGA Registry captures data and tracks outcomes related to inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and colorectal cancer (CRC) prevention. Unique in the history of registry launches, the registry starts with a foundation of clinical data from more than 4.3 million patients with IBD or who have had screening colonoscopies.  

"The AGA Registry is a powerful tool that will help gastroenterologists improve quality of care by understanding what outcomes result from specific interventions," says Gail A. Hecht, MD, MS, AGAF, President of the AGA Institute. "The registry is first and foremost a tool for quality improvement, but it will also support the business side of a medical practice. We plan for the registry to help physicians participate in commercial and government programs that provide incentives for quality measurement."

The AGA Registry will provide real-time feedback reports to practices about the care they provide. The feedback, at the provider and practice level, will allow physicians to benchmark services against data from gastroenterologists providing care to similar patients. At the patient level, the data can help practices monitor patient care, as well as track interventions and outcomes.

"The ability to benchmark and understand where your practice is doing well, but especially where others appear to be doing better, is a critical component in quality improvement," notes John I. Allen, MD, MBA, AGAF, Chair of the Registry Executive Management Board. "The registry will allow community and academic gastroenterologists to tap into 'real-world' observational data from similar practices."

Largest GI Data Registry

The foundation of the AGA Registry is built from MedAssurant's Medical Outcomes for Research on Economics and Effectiveness (MORE2) Registry™. One of the industry's most sophisticated research datasets, use of  the MORE2 Registry™ has enabled the AGA Registry to launch with an unprecedented depth and breadth of clinical insight - already including extensive data on more than 4 million colonoscopy screenings and nearly 300,000 IBD cases.  This data allows for retrospective and prospective benchmarking, as well as a basis for immediate outcomes research. Practices that participate in the registry will be able to run comparative reports after six months of data entry.

Cary Sennett, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer at MedAssurant added, "The AGA Registry brings great benefit by providing physicians with the information they can use to improve the quality and cost-effectiveness of care in an environment increasingly focusing on buying value.  The potential to use data for CMS' Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) and Maintenance of Certification will also help them meet government and quality standards."

The registry on IBD and CRC prevention is the first in a series which will address the high-cost and high-variation aspects of care for patients with GI disease. Possible future registries include upper endoscopy/gastroesophageal reflux/Barrett's esophagus/eosinophilic esophagitis, obesity, viral hepatitis, irritable bowel syndrome, ulcer disease/dyspepsia/Helicobacter pylori, GI motility, nutrition/enteral feeding/total parenteral nutrition, and advanced endoscopy procedures.

For details, see www.AGARegistry.org.

About the American Gastroenterological Association

The American Gastroenterological Association is the trusted voice of the GI community. Founded in 1897, the AGA has grown to include more 17,000 members from around the globe who are involved in all aspects of the science, practice and advancement of gastroenterology. The AGA Institute administers the practice, research and educational programs of the organization. www.gastro.org  

About MedAssurant, Inc.

MedAssurant Inc. is a leading technology-enabled healthcare solutions provider focused on the importance of healthcare data and its ability to drive dramatic, objective improvement in clinical and quality outcomes, care management and financial performance throughout the healthcare community.  Proprietary healthcare datasets, aggregation, and analysis capabilities, combined with a national infrastructure of leading-edge technology, clinical prowess, and deep human resources empowers MedAssurant's advanced generation of healthcare assessment and improvement through highly informed solutions.  Driven by a mission to improve today's healthcare landscape, the employee's of MedAssurant proudly apply care, ingenuity, and dedication to delivering a new approach to healthcare touching more than 100 million Americans – one driven by data and insight – one resulting in meaningful action.  Please visit www.medassurant.com for more information.

SOURCE MedAssurant, Inc.