|
Hello,
Tell Congress to repeal the
Medicare physician payment formula!
The
flawed Medicare physician payment policy, known as the sustainable growth
rate (SGR), forces Congress to pass a law each year to prevent devastating
payment cuts to providers from occurring. Before Congress builds any
health care reforms based on the Medicare payment policy, the Medical Group
Management Association (MGMA) needs you to contact your members of Congress
and tell them to finally repeal the SGR and replace it with a method that accurately
reimburses physician practices for the costs of providing quality care to
Medicare beneficiaries.
E-mail your
senators and representatives today!
Visit
the MGMA
Health Care Reform Resource Center.
Sen.
Kennedy releases health reform bill
The
Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), chaired
by Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.), released a draft bill called the Affordable
Health Choices Act. It will provide the basis for action by the Senate HELP
Committee, one of several congressional committees with jurisdiction over
health care reform. The draft bill contains provisions in the following
areas of interest to medical group practices:
- Improving
the quality and efficiency of health care;
- Improving
the health of the American people;
- Changing the
health care workforce;
- Preventing
fraud and abuse; and
- Improving
access to innovative medical therapies.
Read the
bill in
its entirety.
2009
PQRI reporting options begin July 1: Is your practice ready?
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it will
hold another free conference call on the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting
Initiative (PQRI) on July 17 from 2:30-4:30 p.m. Eastern time. Registration is
required.
CMS
is expected to provide an overview on access to the PQRI help desk, a
review of the three PQRI reporting options available on July 1, and an
update on 2009 PQRI-qualified clinical registries and take questions from
participants.
The three
PQRI reporting options are:
- Claims-based
reporting on one measures group for 80 percent of applicable Medicare
Part B patients for each eligible professional (including a minimum of
15 patients during the reporting period)
- Registry-based
reporting on at least three PQRI measures for at least 80 percent of
applicable Medicare Part B patients
- Registry-based
reporting on one measures group for 80 percent of applicable Medicare
Part B patients of each eligible professional (including a minimum of
15 patients during the reporting period)
CMS
recently posted the document “Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)
& E-Prescribing: Implementation Advice for the Office Manager.” It describes
the PQRI and offers advice on participating in the three 2009 PQRI
reporting options.
CMS also
announced a help line and e-mail resource for PQRI participants. You can
call toll-free 866.288.8912 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. Eastern time, or send
your PQRI questions to pqri_inquiry@cms.hhs.gov.
|
