What is the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)?
January 2009: ACA Teleseminar on Quality Reporting for 2009 Register now!
February 2008: ACA Teleseminar on Quality Reporting (for 2008 PQRI Measures only)
January 2008: ACA Tool Kit for Quality Reporting
August 2007: PQRI 101: A Primer
ACA News June 2007 In-Depth: Golden Opportunity: Chiropractic and the Quality Movement
ACA News June 2007 Government & Advocacy: The Quality Movement: What Can You Do Today?
The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 created a pay-for-reporting program, called the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), within Medicare.
In the year 2007, PQRI established a financial incentive for physicians and other health practitioners to participate in a voluntary quality reporting program. Eligible professionals who successfully reported data for a designated set of quality measures may earn a bonus payment, subject to a cap, of 1.5 percent of total allowed charges for covered Medicare physician fee schedule services provided during the reporting period of July 1, 2007 to December 31, 2007. For the 2008 PQRI, measures reported on are no longer subject to the aforementioned cap based on participation. In 2009, qualifying participating providers may earn a 2 percent bonus payment of all their total estimated Medicare Part B allowed charges.
The PQRI quality measures relate to important processes of care that are linked to improved healthcare quality outcomes. They are evidence- and consensus-based measures that reflect the work of national organizations involved in quality measure development, consensus endorsement, and adoption. These include the American Medical Association Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the National Quality Forum, the AQA Alliance, and other physician and non-physician professional organizations. The professional organizations are also assisting CMS in providing PQRI education and assistance to their members. For more on how quality measures are developed and how ACA is actively representing the chiropractic profession in this area, click here.
What About Chiropractic?
Through the hard work of the leadership at ACA, doctors of chiropractic, in 2009, are again eligible to participate in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). From ACA's previous work with the Pennsylvania Quality Alliance Improvement Organization (PA QIO), two measures were developed that were reportable by the chiropractic profession in 2008 and will continue to be applicable in 2009. These measures, pain assessment prior to initiation of patient treatment, and adoption/use of health information technology (electronic health records), were finalized by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November 2007. An additional measure, functional outcome assessment in chiropractic care, was adopted by AQA and is applicable to DCs in 2009.
Doctors of chiropractic that chose to participate in 2008 may be eligible for a 1.5% bonus payment under Medicare. In 2009, qualifying providers may receive bonus payment of 2% of all their total estimated Medicare Part B allowed charges.
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