The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted details of the 74 performance quality measures that will be used to decide 2007 bonuses for physicians providing services to Medicare patients.
The measures are part of the voluntary Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) run by CMS. The program began after President Bush signed legislation in December 2006 that provides for a payment of up to 1.5 percent on top of physicians’ regular Medicare fees.
The first PQRI period runs from July 1 through Dec. 31. Eligible physicians and medical professionals who choose to participate must pick those measures relevant to their patient care from the list of measures. They then report on the measures by submitting the associated quality-data codes associated with the Medicare claims forms.
No prior registration will be needed to take part in the program, at least for the 2007 reporting period.
Also, CMS said, quality data reported under the 2007 PQRI will not be publicly reported. According to a recent study by the University of Chicago, less than one third of the physicians they surveyed favored pubic reporting of quality scores in pay-for-performance programs.
The PQRI initiative is seen as a major test for the widespread use of pay-for-performance programs. Although many regional programs already exist, the success of the Medicare initiative is seen as a major driver for the broader national adoption of pay-for-performance.
The same University of Chicago study reports that three of four primary care physicians favor pay-for-performance programs, but only if the quality measures are deemed accurate. However, echoing comments made in earlier forums, the study states that most physicians have little confidence that either health payers or the government will try hard to make such measures accurate.
The PQRI measures were established after much research and debate among major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, the National Commission for Quality Assurance, the National Quality Forum and the AQA Alliance.
Quality measures for the 2008 reporting period -– which will run for the entire calendar year -– will be proposed and finalized later this year through a formal public notice-and-comment government rulemaking. Proposed measures must be published by Aug. 15 and finalized by Nov. 15.
From the battlefield to the home front: Managing medical data
Government Health IT presents Col. Claude Hines Jr., program manager for the Defense Health Information Management System, in this recent InSight eSeminar. Col. Hines discusses the health information technology and tactical challenges faced by the military medical community in Iraq, Afghanistan and other areas of conflict. In doing so, he describes the current information technology solutions for transferring clinical data between battlefield care givers to health care personnel at military treatment facilities worldwide.
