In addition to the government’s stimulus incentives, e-prescription incentives, and electronic health record (EHR) subsidies, physicians may also receive Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) incentive payments from CMS equal to 2% of total estimated Medicare Part B PFS allowed charges during the reporting period for 2010.

To participate in the 2010 PQRI, practices must report information on individual PQRI quality measures or measures groups. An easy and quick way to submit required information is directly from EHR software.

However, the software needs to be “qualified” by CMS for electronic submission. Currently, only seven EHR systems have been qualified by CMS for electronic reporting purposes.

In order to qualify, each EHR vendor went through a thorough process to check the capability of providing the required PQRI data elements for 10 PQRI measures. These “qualified” EHRs capture the required data for the measure calculation, but also transmit the required information in the requested file format.

Products that have not been qualified by CMS may claim similar capabilities, but CMS cannot guarantee that these other products will be compatible for EHR based submission for PQRI.

Luckily, Healthcare DPS offers an EHR that has been qualified for electronic submissions, allowing physicians to easily submit for both PQRI and e-prescription incentives provided by CMS.

For more information, please contact 877-423-7701 or visit www.healthcaredps.com.

For more detailed PQRI information, please visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri/

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Based on current annual adjustments, CMS (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services) projected a -21.5% rate reduction in 2010 to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS).
The continuous negative updates have been a constant issue. To combat the reductions, CMS announced proposed changes to policies and payment rates for the 2010 MPFS, with expectations of increasing rates for primary care services.

CMS proposed to refine practice expenses, eliminate payment for consultation codes, and revisit treatment of malpractice premiums. These changes may increase payments to general practitioners, family physicians, internists, and geriatric specialists by between 6-8% which may reduce the number of years that physicians experience a loss.

Even with the potential reform to payment rate, physicians need ways to increase revenues while reducing costs in order to receive the maximum return for their hard work. Healthcare DPS offers various solutions to bring a practice to its fullest potential, allowing physicians to work efficiently while enhancing revenue and decreasing costs. For more information regarding Healthcare DPS offerings, please visit

www.healthcaredps.com

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