Medicare incentive programs
May 26, 2011- The Medicare Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), formerly known as the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI), this year offers a 1 percent bonus when practitioners report performing specified quality measures. A new PQRS reporting period will begin July 1 for doctors who did not start earlier in the year. For details, see “Physician Quality Reporting System: PQRS 2011 made easy” in the March 2011 issue of AOA News or the AOA Web site PQRS page (www.aoa.org/PQRS).
- The Medicare e-Prescribing Incentive Program offers practitioners, with qualified e-prescribing systems, the opportunity to earn 1 percent payment bonuses for 2011 when they prescribe pharmaceuticals electronically 25 times for applicable patients over the course of the year. For additional information see the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services E-Prescribing Fact Sheet (www.aoa.org/documents/EPrescribingFactSheet.pdf). (Practitioners cannot receive payments under the Medicare e-prescribing program during any year they receive payments under the Medicare EHR incentive program.)
- The Medicare EHR Incentive Program this year offers $18,000 for practitioners who install properly certified EHR systems and meet required utilization targets. Practitioners can earn a total of $44,000 ($48,000 in federally designated health profession shortage areas) over the life of the incentive program. Practitioners can apply for bonuses beginning this month. For additional information, see the related article in this edition of AOA News or the AOA Web site’s EHR page (www.aoa.org/EHR). (As previously noted, practitioners cannot receive payments under the Medicare EHR incentive program during any year they receive payments under the Medicare e-prescribing program.)
