Physicians Practice - September 2008 - (Page 31) PUBLIC POLICY THE BIG QUESTION Is PQRI a success? For 56,700 physicians, it was. The rest? Well, thanks for playing. Looking at numbers like that and other aspects of PQRI, there are those who say the program is a sucker’s bet. William Schreiber, one of two family practice physicians at Plank Road Medical Practice in North Syracuse, N.Y. is not a fan. “It’s only a tiny minority of our total visits,” he says. “Of 32 patients today, I think I got two PQRI prompts — two diabetics.” He says many of his colleagues are similarly unimpressed. “Nobody I know thinks this has any value. Nobody. Zero.” But why not? Doctors worry that eventually the “bonus” will become a penalty, he says: “There’s a universal conception in the medical community that once Hirsch says he was pleasantly surprised “that you could report codes as simply as this; it requires no effort.” Of course, he’s reserving his final judgment, saying, “It was a very easy process for us, but I’ll have a better impression when I get the check.” BOO! HISS! Ah yes, about those checks: One very large practice received a first-year bonus of more than $200,000, but the average group’s bonus was a mere $4,700, according to CMS. Hirsch learned in July that he was among the physicians who will get a PQRI bonus. For his efforts, he was expecting a payout of a few hundred dollars — about average. quality reporting is tied to reimbursement, they’ll hold back on [reimbursement],” says Schreiber. “It’s just assumed that that’s exactly what’s going to happen.” This negative view, though not truly “universal,” is certainly common. Discussions about PQRI on the online physician community Sermo.com, for example, included many comments like these: “There is no way on this planet … that this can be good for physicians.” “I think the idea of PQRI reflecting the quality and outcomes measures for diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, etc., in an ideal world is not bad. However most doctors don’t operate in an ideal world.” “This will become an excuse to pay us less.” “I had the ‘honor’ of listening to the AHRQ and PQRI Gods at a recent conference. … These Gods are very adamant and arrogant about shoving these unfunded man- WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM SEPTEMBER 2008 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | 31 http://www.physiciansalliance.com http://www.physiciansalliance.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM
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