Reminder! Six Month Reporting Option for 2010 PQRI Begins July 1
A six-month reporting period for July 1 through December 31 is an option for 2010 participation in the Physicians Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). If your group has not participated yet in 2010, there is still an opportunity to do so either through claims-based or registry reporting. The incentive bonus for 2010 remains at 2% of total allowable Medicare charges for the reporting period. An individual physician can use either of the following options to potentially qualify for the bonus:
- Claims-based reporting of individual measures for 80 percent or more of applicable patients on at least three individual measures or on each measure if less than three measures apply; (can report on only 1 or 2 measures if no more apply to that physician’s services)
- Registry-based reporting of at least three individual PQRI measures for 80 percent or more of applicable Medicare Part B fee-for-service patients of each eligible professional
Some interventional radiologists may also be able to report the “Perioperative Care” measure group. More information on measures group reporting can be found at this link: http://www.cms.gov/PQRI/Downloads/2010_GettingStartedwithPQRIReportingofMeasuresGroups_020510_FINAL_2.pdf
Participate now to prepare before PQRI reporting becomes a requirement for full Medicare reimbursement in upcoming years. Sec. 3002 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) stipulates future PQRI payments as follows:
- 2011: 1 percent incentive
- 2012 through 2014: 0.5 percent incentive
- 2015: 1.5 percent penalty if practices are not successfully participating
- 2016 and beyond: 2 percent penalty
The PPACA legislation also provides for an additional 0.5 percent incentive in 2011-2014, if the individual physician participates in a CMS approved "continuous assessment program”, such as a qualified American Board of Medical Specialties Maintenance of Certification (MOC), Part IV program, and participation from the MOC program is submitted to CMS.
More information on 2010 PQRI can be accessed on the ACR website at this link: http://www.acr.org/SecondaryMainMenuCategories/quality_safety/p4p/FeaturedCategories/P4PInitiatives/pqri.aspx
Questions may also be submitted to P4PQuestions@acr-arrs.org.
