PQRS Registry

In May of 2013, we posted a blog with an introduction to the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS). One of the many changes happening in healthcare this year involves PQRS. According to Medicare Guidelines,

“Those that report satisfactorily for the 2014 program year and receive an incentive will also avoid the 2016 PQRS payment adjustment.”

This means that eligible professionals (EPs) that meet the reporting requirements can earn a payment incentive *and* avoid a payment penalty of up to 2%. If an EP cannot meet the reporting requirements, there are still steps that can be taken to avoid payment penalties.

Last year, to avoid any Medicare or Medicaid payment penalties, providers only had to send one measure for one patient. This year, providers are required to send 3 measures at 50% of the eligible patients just to avoid payment penalties.

As you can see, the requirements are significantly increased this year. Although there are several ways to report PQRS, we strongly recommend that our clients use the PQRS Registry because of the increased requirements and the ease of tracking that this program offers. All of our clients, no matter which state they are in, can use NJ HiTec for PQRS reporting. Registration for NJ HiTec runs about $400 and it makes it easy for individual EPs to track their own status for incentive or penalty. To register, please visit http://www.njhitec.org/pqrs/ and choose the “click here to register” option. Once you register, please let us know so that we can call you about PQRS with instructions on your next steps.

For more detailed information on PQRS measure codes, please visit:

http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/PQRS/MeasuresCodes.html. Client Services can also help you select reporting measures. 

Contributors: Mel Johnson and Christine Parker