American College of Rheumatology - Rheumatoid Arthritis Practice Improvement Module

American College of Rheumatology

Assess | Improve | Measure (AIM)

Rheumatoid Arthritis Practice Improvement Module

AIM Overview

Welcome to Assess, Improve, Measure, or AIM, the Rheumatoid Arthritis Practice Improvement Module from the American College of Rheumatology. AIM is a Web-based self-evaluation of practice performance tool designed to guide a physician or physician-designated abstractor (usually office staff) through medical chart data abstraction using a series of questions related directly to evidence-based medicine quality indicators. AIM is designed for those physicians engaged in the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification program, or those physicians seeking a quality improvement or practice audit tool.

The data will culminate in an automated report enabling physicians to:

Reflect on practice performance data
Identify their practice strengths and areas in need of improvement
Develop and implement an improvement plan
Assess impact of change through re-measurement
Report changes

AIM is equipped with comprehensive data reports and templates for the development of the physician improvement plan and impact statement. The improvement plan allows the physician to create a detailed course of action for practice improvement during the improvement phase. The impact statement, which signifies the completion of the module, allows the physician to reflect on his/her experience and practice performance.

As the program expands, rheumatology-related benchmarks will become evident allowing each physician to evaluate his/her practice on its own merit or against the aggregated performance statistics of other practices. AIM contains educational links to quality-related Web sites, and includes helpful hints for developing and adhering to the improvement plan.

AIM offers up to 20 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM and 20 ABIM MOC practice performance points. Upon completion of the module, you will be instructed on how receive the credits and/or points you selected during the registration process.

AIM Template Overview

AIM is to be completed in the steps outlined below. To move forward to the next step, the previous requirements must be complete (e.g., all steps in Part 1 must be completed prior to moving on the Part 2, etc). The links within the site on the Main Menu page will only become available when the previous steps have been completed. Review the outline and directions below.

Part 1 - DATA COLLECTION - First Abstraction

Medical Chart Selection Guidelines

Each patient must be at least 18 years of age.
Each patient must have a confirmed diagnosis of Rheumatoid Arthritis.
Each chart must be selected at random by abstractor starting from the first day of abstraction and moving backwards until 25 charts have been selected.
Each patient must have been seen within the last three months from date of abstraction.

Data entered by abstractor:

Review/Enter Chart Data - First Abstraction (individual physician practices review 25 charts; group practices with fewer than five participants review at least 25 charts; groups with five or more participants review five charts each e.g., 10 participants review a total of 50 charts).

Data entered by physician:

Complete Examine Systems: Practice Characteristics
Complete Examine Systems: Improvement Process
Review/Approve Report - A report containing all data entered in Part 1 will be generated and the physician, or lead physician if group practice, is required to review and approve.
Review/Approve Report - Physician selects which quality measures will be focused on during the improvement plan.

Part 2 - IMPROVEMENT PLAN

The improvement plan implementation period is one month.

Data entered by physician:

Develop/Approve Improvement Plan