EMG Utilization for Patients with Isolated Lower Back Pain
Measure Purpose: Reduce the number of patients with lower back pain who had electromyography (EMG) for diagnosis.
NOTE: This is an inverse measure. A lower score means you're providing higher quality care.
The numerator: Patients who had an EMG for diagnosis of isolated lower back pain
is divided by
The denominator: Patients 18 and older diagnosed with isolated lower back pain
Exclusions are removed from the denominator:
- Patients who have radicular symptoms documented
- Diagnosed with malignant neoplasm of spinal cord
- Diagnosed with cauda equina syndrome
- Diagnosed with sciatica
- EMG performed by another provider
- EMG clinically indicated to rule out another comorbidity
- EMG ordered by another provider
Key Phrases
Examples of key phrases you could use to meet the measure include:
- EMG clinically indicated
- EMG needed to rule out…
- Radiculopathy noted
- Pain that radiates down the leg reported
Measure Calculation Example
Dr. Ige has 100 patients diagnosed with isolated lower back pain between January 1 and December 31. Twelve patients were diagnosed with sciatica and two patients reported radicular symptoms. They meet exclusions and are removed from the initial population. (100-(12+2)=86. This is the denominator.
Of the 86 patients, 12 had an EMG for diagnosis of isolated lower back pain. The numerator is 12.
Quality of patient care = 12/(100-(12+2)). Dr. Ige has a score of 13.95% for this measure. A lower score indicates better care for this measure.