Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) Practices See Significant Gains in Rheumatoid Arthritis Quality Measures.

OBJECTIVE Using the American College of Rheumatology's RISE registry, we examined performance on rheumatoid arthritis (RA) quality measures and assessed the association between practice characteristics and changes in performance over time among participating practices. METHODS We analyzed data from practices enrolled in RISE between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2017. Eight quality measures in the areas of RA disease management, cardiovascular risk reduction, and patient safety were examined. Variability in performance was evaluated at the practice level. Multivariate linear models were used to predict change in measure performance by year and determine the effect of practice characteristics on change in performance over time. RESULTS Data from 59,986 patients from 54 practices was examined. Mean age was 62±14 years, 77% were female, 69% were Caucasian, and most patients were seen in a single-specialty group practice (46%). Average performance on measures related to RA treatments was consistently high (>90%) across the study period. Measures related to RA functional status and disease activity assessment had the greatest improvements over time (8.4% and 13.0% increase per year, respectively; p<0.001). Single-specialty group practices had the fastest rates of improvement over time across all measures. CONCLUSIONS Among practices participating in RISE between 2015 to 2017, performance on most RA quality measures improved. Single specialty group practices saw the fastest rates of improvement over time. Identification of workflow patterns leading to dramatic improvements in quality of care will help guide process redesign to address gaps in priority areas, such as TB screening and blood pressure control.