Internal Medicine Coding Alert

Question: Our IM practice did not begin the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) earlier this year, but now we regret it. Is there any good reason to start PQRI reporting this late in the year?

Kentucky Subscriber

Answer: If you missed the PQRI boat the first time, you could join the alternative reporting program as of July 1.

CMS' alternative reporting period this year runs between July 1 and Dec. 1. "So insofar as professionals that have not begun to participate, this will give an additional opportunity to begin participation in PQRI for this year," according to information noted on a June 10 CMS open-door forum.

"The incentive payment of 1.5 percent for Part B services will only apply to that second half of the year, July 1 to Dec. 31, but nevertheless, professionals who report this way will be able to get that incentive payment," a CMS official said during the forum.

For more about the PQRI program, visit the CMS Web site http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri. If you want a primer on PQRI reporting for internal medicine, check out "Get More Money With 2 PQRI Coding Details" in Internal Medicine Coding Alert 2008

Vol. 11, No. 5.

-- Answers to You Be the Coder and Reader Questions were reviewed by Bruce Rappoport, MD, CPC, CHCC, a board-certified internist and medical director of Broward Health's Best Choice Plus and Total Claims Administration in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.