National Provider Question and Answer Session on PQRI

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Provider Communications Group will host the second in a series of national provider conference calls on the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). This toll-free call will take place from 1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m., EST, on Wednesday, February 18, 2009.

The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 (MIPPA) made the PQRI program permanent, but only authorized incentive payments through 2010. Eligible professionals who meet the criteria for satisfactory submission of quality measures data for services furnished during the reporting period, January 1, 2009 - December 31, 2009, will earn an incentive payment of 2.0 percent of their total allowed charges for Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) covered professional services furnished during that same period. The 2009 PQRI consists of 153 quality measures and 7 measures groups.

The topics covered on this National Provider Call will include a review of the aggregate level measure submission feedback report from PQRI 2008 and an update regarding 2009 PQRI measure submission. Following the presentation, the lines will be opened to allow participants to ask questions of CMS PQRI subject matter experts.

Educational products are available on the PQRI dedicated web page located at, http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI , on the CMS website, in the Educational Resources section. Feel free to download the resources prior to the call so that you may ask questions of the presenters, Dr. Michael Rapp and Dr. Daniel Green.

In order to receive the call-in information, you must register for the call. It is important to note that if you are planning to sit in with a group, only one person needs to register to receive the call-in data. This registration is solely to reserve a phone line, NOT to allow participation. If you cannot attend the call, replay information is available below.

Registration will close at 1:30 p.m. EST on February 17, 2009, or when available space has been filled. No exceptions will be made, so please be sure to register prior to this time.

To Register
To register for the call participants need to go to: http://www2.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/021809

1) Fill in all required data.
2) Verify your time zone is displayed correctly the drop down box.
3) Click "Register".

You will be taken to the “Thank you for registering” page and will receive a confirmation email shortly thereafter. Note: Please print and save this page, in the event that your server blocks the confirmation emails. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please check your spam/junk mail filter as it may have been directed there.

For those of you who will be unable to attend, a replay option will be available shortly following the end of the call. This replay will be accessible from 2:30 p.m. EST 2/18/2009 until 11:59 p.m. EST 2/25/2009. The call in data for the replay is (800) 642-1687 and the passcode is 84543925.

If you require services for the hearing impaired please send an email to: Medicare.TTT@PalmettoGBA.com.

NCQA Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Level 3


After good amount of intensive data mining with our Electronic Health Record and adjustment of some of our documentation methods, we finally received certification!
The mountain climb was not without effort, but the results for us and our patients are a great reward. I've included a link to our evolving home page.

I am proud to say many of the necessary elements are performed on a regular basis by myself and my peers. The Electronic Health Record features especially the Registry may generating the evidence much less difficult. We are a solo practice with limited support staff. Based upon a review of the many demonstration projects, the potential additional revenue that will be made available will keep this a sustainable option for practices of all sizes.

Congratulations to my staff, my patients and my patient family. SV


www.svolpemd.com

CMS Special Open Door Forum on PQRI

2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)

Thursday, February 12, 2009

3:00PM – 4:30PM Eastern Time (ET)

Conference Call Only

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will hold a Special Open Door Forum (ODF) to discuss the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). This call will be geared to those eligible professionals planning to participate in the PQRI for the first time in 2009 and will cover the basics of how to satisfactorily report the 2009 PQRI quality measures through claims-based reporting.

During this Special ODF, CMS staff will discuss the basics of how to satisfactorily report the 2009 PQRI quality measures through claims-based reporting. Afterwards, there will be an opportunity for the public to ask questions.

Additional Information
For information about the PQRI, including educational products, go to www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI.

We look forward to your participation.
Special Open Door Forum Participation Instructions:
Dial: 1-800-837-1935 Conference ID 83501646
Note: TTY Communications Relay Services are available for the Hearing Impaired.
For TTY services dial 7-1-1 or 1-800-855-2880 and for Internet Relay services click here http://www.consumer.att.com/relay/which/index.html

A Relay Communications Assistant will help.
An audio recording of this Special Forum will be posted to the Special Open Door Forum website at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/OpenDoorForums/05_ODF_SpecialODF.asp and will be accessible for downloading beginning February 20, 2009.

For automatic emails of Open Door Forum schedule updates (E-Mailing list subscriptions) and to view Frequently Asked Questions please visit our website at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/opendoorforums/

CMS MEDICARE ePrescribing "Made Simple"

Here are two links to the CMS that walks you through the process as well as short summary.SV

You do not have to register to participate in this incentive program.
Eligible professionals who successfully report the e-prescribing measure in 2009 may be eligible to receive an incentive payment equal to 2% of all of their Medicare Part B (Fee-for-Service, or FFS) allowed charges for services furnished during the reporting period.

The 2009 Reporting Period is January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009. This measure can only be reported using the Medicare claims process.

Table 2: E-Prescribing Measure Denominator Codes
The following CPT or HCPCS G-codes are included in the denominator of the
e-prescribing measure AND must equal at least 10% of your total Medicare Part B allowable FFS billing on at least 50% of the Medicare FFS patients seen:

90801,96150,
99215, 90802,
96151,
99241, 90804,
96152,
99242, 90805,
99201,
99243, 90806,
99202,
99244, 90807,
99203,
99245, 90808,
99204,
G0101, G0108, G0109,90809, 92002, 92004,
99205, 99211, 99212, 92012, 92014,
99213, 99214,

CMS

CMS ERX MADE SIMPLE

HIT: Changing the Delivery Paradigm Seminar

Health Information Technology
Bronx - February 5

An Educational Program Offered by the
Medical Society of the State of New York and Hosted by the
NY Chapter ACP - Bronx District and Bronx County Medical Society

Thursday, February 5, 2009
5:30 Registration - 6:00 Dinner Program

Mario’s Restaurant, 2342 Arthur Avenue, Bronx, NY

To Register, call: Loretta Ponesse - (518) 427-0366 or email: lponesse@nyacp.org

Presented by: Salvatore Volpe, MD Co-Chair, MSSNY’s HIT Task Force Education Committee