PQRS
The Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), Simplified
Launched by the government in 2006, the PQRS program has provided incentive money every year since to Medicare Part B physicians who submit clinical data on their prescribed medical and drug treatments for certain conditions.
After all, no one knows better than doctors which drugs are worth their price tags (and which ones aren't.) And no one knows better than doctors which procedures assure a faster-healing outcome for their patients.
With PQRS, now is your chance to share what you know…
PQRS and PQRI – what's the difference?
They're both the same programs. PQRS is simply the new name for Physician Quality Reporting Incentives (PQRI), but the over-riding goal hasn't changed: to collect enough data on certain prescribed medical and drug treatments to understand which ones work the best.
What's this about PQRS incentives?
Simply put, the government will pay doctors for submitting quality reporting data on the medical and drug treatments they prescribe – say, for example, inhaled corticosteroid for an asthma patient. (Check out the 2011 PQRS Measures list to learn more.) Here's the PQRS incentives breakdown for 2011:
- Incentive check equaling 1% of Medicare Part B claims
- Incentive check equaling 1.5% of Medicare Part B claims if participation includes Maintenance of Certification program
Important note on incentive program participation and cash incentives.
You can participate in both the PQRS program and the MIPPA incentive program, but only get cash incentives for one. However, these two programs are expected to merge in a couple of years, anyway.
How to submit PQRS data.
Right now, doctors have three choices to report PQRS data: with their Medicare Part B claims; through a Qualified Physician Reporting registry; OR through a certified EHR solution. The third option comes with extra benefits for PQRS participants, especially if they use Rcopia e-prescribing and patient medication history software!
Rcopia e-prescribing for PQRS incentives.
You might be thinking that an "EHR" solution means you have to go full paperless to qualify for PQRS incentives. It doesn't. Rcopia allows doctors to take their time with going paperless, while using electronic prescribing and patient medication history to streamline prescription processing…and PQRS reporting!
- Award-winning e-prescribing and patient medication history software
- Meets PQRS reporting criteria
- Just $2 a day
- Users eligible for PQRS or MIPPA incentive funds, their choice
- Cuts prescription processing time to two minutes or less
A final word on PQRS…
We understand that a hefty incentives check isn't enough to ease doctors' worries about catching up with all the government healthcare IT initiatives. (That's one reason why we price and scale our e-prescribing and patient medication history solutions with even the smallest medical practice in mind.)
But PQRS does give doctors a chance to help meet two formidable healthcare goals of our time: reducing skyrocketing costs and increasing better patient outcomes. And solutions like Rcopia make it far simpler for doctors to do so.
Meaningful Use
Looking to earn even more substantial incentive money, including up to $21K this year? Check out Rcopia-MU, our upgraded version of Rcopia that meets all critical Meaningful Use requirements!
Get in touch with DrFirst today for a free, no obligation consultation to learn about the PQRS and other government incentives programs.