Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

PQRI:

You Won't Know Your Share Of $1.35 Billion Pie Until The End

Next year's project adds 45 quality measures If you stayed away from the Physicians Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) this year because it didn't have enough measures that applied to you, then 2008 could be your year to dive in. Next year's PQRI project will have 119 measures, up from 74 in this year's version. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) broadened the demo to include some providers who didn't have much opportunity to participate this year, officials said. The 2008 PQRI also will include two "structural measures:" One will assess your use of electronic prescribing, and the other will deal with electronic health records. CMS set aside $1.35 billion for PQRI bonuses in 2008. But you won't know how high your individual 2008 bonus will be until CMS first sees how many practices participate successfully, and then divides the money among them. There may not be any PQRI in 2009, unless Congress extends it, officials noted.
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