Gastroenterology Coding Alert

PQRI isn't the only program to offer physicians an enticement.

In 2009, your physicians are eligible to earn an additional 2 percent of their total Medicare-allowed charges if they adopt e-prescription systems.

"E-prescribing can greatly reduce the number of medication errors that jeopardize the health and safety of Medicare patients and waste precious health care dollars treating conditions that never should have happened," said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems in an Oct. 30 statement.

Take note: You do not have to have an electronic medical record (EMR) system to e-prescribe, says Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CENTC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CHCC, president of CRN Healthcare Solutions in Tinton Falls, N.J.

"There are many systems that are being made available that are stand-alone e-prescription systems that are substantially less costly than a full-blown EMR," Cobuzzi says.

"Some e-prescription systems are available online that don't have any cost beyond the visibility of the service's advertisers, collection of your data -- and the cost of duplicate entry of patient demographics, as it is not tied into the office's practice management system."

The physician does not have to register to be considered for the 2 percent bonus from e-prescribing, according to CMS. The physician must report e-prescription activity on 50 percent of the Medicare patients he sees.

Reporting means using one of three G-codes that indicate whether or not the physician wrote e-prescriptions as part of an encounter with a Medicare patient:

• G8443 -- All prescriptions created during the encounter were generated using a qualified e-prescribing system

• G8445 -- No prescriptions were generated during the encounter, provider does have access to a qualified e-prescribing system

• G8446 -- Some or all prescriptions generated during the encounter were handwritten or phoned in due to one of the following: required by state law, patient request, or qualified e-prescribing system being temporarily inoperable.

Learn more at www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI/Downloads/E-PrescribingMeasureSpecifications.pdf.