AAN Develops Data Registry for Neurology Practitioners

The American Academy of Neurology (AAN) is releasing its new Axion Registry for the benefit economic benefit of neurologists across the country as well as to improve patient care outcomes. The Axion registry, which will be officially released later this year, tracks 22 quality metrics and qualities as a clinical data registry for The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

At first, the registry will include quality measures that broadly encompass all types of neurological disorders, but the AAN has plans to add at least 10 ten more metrics per year. Dr. Bruce Sigsbee is the Registry Committee chair for the AAN: “We are trying to develop measures that are relevant to just about everybody’s practice. So there is something in the registry for the types of patients that an individual physician sees, and they will be relevant measures for his or her practice.”

Three contributing factors lead to the development of the Axion Registry: 1) insurance reimbursements, 2) physician interest in quality improvement, and 3) need to demonstrate the value of neurological care. Both private and public insurances focus in the post-ACA environment on development and progress on the care provided by physicians, in order to receive full reimbursement for their services. Therefore, the registry serves as a platform for doctors to track their performance regarding quality improvement for their patients and insurance providers. The benefit of the software for a physician’s day-to-day practice is that it does not require extra time to input the data or any additional cost to access the software. Physician participation is voluntary.

Long-term, the AAN hopes that the Axion Registry will include 2 million patient records by the end of the year. As more records are added to the database, the strength of the data will grow, continuing to benefit neurologists and patients across the country across all of the neurological subspecialties.

To find out more information on the Axion Registry, please visit the AAN website.