Measure 317 is to have the office screen for high blood pressure. If the blood pressure is considered to be high, there must be a follow-up and documentation of the follow-up.
This measure only applies to patients that are 18 years or older seen during this year (2024).
To meet this measure, the patient must be screened every visit of the year. Patients that have not been screened will count against you. If you have not taken blood pressure readings for every visit this year, you may not want to report on Measure 317. However, you can start incorporating blood pressure screening as part of your standard routine to utilize this measure for 2025.
The screening must be conducted by your office. It cannot be provided by an external source such as the patient or another provider. Conducted by your office means that it does not necessarily need to be the doctor, it can also be a staff member or MA.
Both the systolic and diastolic blood pressure measurements are required. If there are multiple blood pressure measurements on the same date of service, use the most recent as the representative blood pressure.
The specific procedure codes related to this measure are:
90791, 90792, 92002, 92004, 92012, 92014, 99202, 99203, 99204, 99205, 99212, 99213, 99214, 99215, 99236, 99281, 99282, 99283, 99284, 99285, 99304, 99305, 99306, 99307, 99308, 99309, 99310, 99315, 99316, 99318, 99324, 99325, 99326, 99327, 99328, 99334, 99335, 99336, 99337, 99339, 99340, 99341, 99342, 99343, 99344, 99345, 99347, 99348, 99349, 99350, 99385*, 99386*, 99387*, 99395*, 99396*, 99397*, D7111, D7140, D7210, D7220, D7230, D7240, D7241, D7250, D7251, G0101, G0402, G0438, G0439
There are four Blood Pressure (BP) reading classifications: Normal, Elevated, First Hypertensive or Second (or further) Hypertensive. This classification must be included in the chart when you measure their blood pressure.
Hypertensive Reading requires a follow-up plan.
A follow-up plan can be to refer the patient to an alternate / primary care provider. Especially in the case that you recognize a dangerously high blood pressure in a patient that did not know they had hypertension; you can refer them to the ER. Have them get treatment immediately and possibly save their life simply by using this measure.
Alternatively, you can elect to have a nonpharmacologic intervention. This can include
- • Weight Reduction
- • Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Eating Plan
- • Dietary Sodium Restriction
- • Increased Physical Activity
- • Moderation in alcohol (ETOH) Consumption
Unlike other measures that only require documentation for 1-2 visits, Measure 317 requires screening and documentation for every visit. This may be cumbersome, but this measure aligns with our goal as doctors to treat patients. It engages patients and by taking their blood pressure, you can greatly impact or save a patient’s life.
Just because a patient is excluded from this measure because they have a hypertension diagnosis, nothing is stopping you from taking their blood pressure and providing an intervention if necessary.
Performance Met
There are two cases to meet this measure. The first is that there is a normal blood pressure reading documented and follow-up is not required (G8783). The second is that pre-hypertensive or hypertensive blood pressure reading is documented AND the indicated follow-up is documented (G8950).
Performance Not Met
This measure is not met if blood pressure reading is not documented, and reason was not given (G8785). The measure is also not met if pre-hypertensive or hypertensive reading is documented but indicated follow-up is not documented with no reason given (G8952).
Exclusion
Patients that have an active diagnosis of hypertension (G9744) are excluded from this measure and do not count against you. Make sure that hypertension is in their chart, their problem list and documented so that if you are audited, you can demonstrate that the patient was excluded due to hypertension.
Also excluded is that if there is a documented for not screening or recommending a follow-up for high blood pressure (G9745).
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