Physician's Practice - November 2008 - (Page 12)

LETTERS “Physicians and practice managers need to know there are simple, affordable, and effective ways of earning their PQRI bonus without EMRs or chart pulling.” GET YOUR BONUS NAVIGATING PQRI Congratulations on a very well-written article on the current state of affairs in PQRI (“Uncle Sam’s Exam,” September 2008). I thoroughly enjoyed the timing of the article and you perfectly captured the frustrations, anxieties, and complexities involved in participating in PQRI using administrative codes and the “traditional” approach to PQRI, as well as those who achieved success. Your article was well researched yet I was disappointed to note that you failed to highlight a signiﬁcant change in the PQRI reporting method for 2008 that makes it super simple for the vast majority of physicians to earn their 1.5 percent bonus for the entire year without CPT/G-Codes from billing systems and claims. CMS announced the new Alternative Reporting Method for PQRI 2008 on April 15, 2008, and announced the approved list of registries able to submit clinical data on behalf of providers on Aug. 30, 2008. For the ﬁrst time, CMS is paying for submission of clinical data captured at the point of care and submitted electronically to IAMF for processing/payment. Unfortunately, there is mass confusion in the marketplace on the new rules. Providers simply ask three to nine questions (based on age/sex) of the next 30 consecutive patients (at least two must be traditional Medicare FFS and all must be 50+ years old) who walk through their door, capture the data in an electronic registry, and the physician is done — for the entire year. Physicians and practice managers need to know there are simple, affordable, and effective ways of earning their PQRI bonus without EMRs or chart pulling. —Alex Burgess Raleigh, N.C. Great article on PQRI (September 2008), a major topic on the minds of all physicians. I particularly liked the way you presented both views of the program and enunciated the concerns often spoken but rarely published. Another point I was wondering about is all the “free” care we give our Medicare patients, i.e., time on call, unreimbursed phone contact with my staff or me, and paperwork time. These many hours are conveniently forgot or taken for granted. I hope CMS considers what they are asking of us and realizes the potential impact on quality of care (although not professionalism) in regard to decreasing reimbursement and all the hoops to get reimbursed in the ﬁrst place. —William Li, MD Lafayette, Ind. In your September issue (“Uncle Sam’s Exam”) I was quoted as saying that PQRI was an easy process but that I would have a better impression when I got the check. I can now report that PQRI for 2007 was an absolute disaster, and I am sure that the other 53,000 doctors (48 percent of the 110,000 who participated) who also did not get a check agree with me. Why was it such a disaster? First, the money was sent to practices as a single payment, with no information about which physicians earned the incentive and which did not. To OUR MISSION Helping physicians manage their practices more efﬁciently, leading to improved patient care. P U B L I S H I N G S TA F F VICE PRESIDENT & GROUP PUBLISHER Ken Karpay kkarpay@physicianspractice.com GENERAL MANAGER Katherine Hermann khermann@physicianspractice.com EDITORIAL EDITORIAL DIRECTOR Pamela L. Moore, PhD pmoore@physicianspractice.com EXECUTIVE EDITOR Bob Keaveney bkeaveney@physicianspractice.com MANAGING EDITOR Abigail Beckel, MA abeckel@physicianspractice.com SENIOR EDITOR, PROJECTS Laurie Hyland Robertson lchrobertson@physicianspractice.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Shirley Grace, MA sgrace@physicianspractice.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kellie Rowden-Racette kellie.rowden-racette@cmpmedica.com MANAGING EDITOR, PROJECTS Alyson Siclare asiclare@physicianspractice.com ASSISTANT EDITOR Erica Lukenich elukenich@physicianspractice.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Robert Anthony, Bill Dacey, Owen Dahl, Deborah Grider, Robert Lowes, Jonathan McCallister, Shelly K. Schwartz, Pamela Tanton PROJECT MANAGER Amanda Rombach TECHNOLOGY ANALYST Alka Chander DESIGN GROUP CREATIVE DIRECTOR Nancy Bitteker ASSOCIATE ART DIRECTOR Naddya Chavez ART DIRECTOR Bill Ellis H O S P I TA L S T R AT E G I E S ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER steven.gottshall@cmpmedica.com HOSPITAL RELATIONS STRATEGIST shelley.schoenfeld@cmpmedica.com HOSPITAL RELATIONS STRATEGIST lori.brenner@cmpmedica.com HOSPITAL RELATIONS STRATEGIST tom.reavis@cmpmedica.com ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER Steve Gottshall 847 242 9552 Shelley Schoenfeld 732 393 9696 Lori Brenner 715 384 6711 Tom Reavis 602 790 2652 B U S I N E S S A D V E R T I S I N G S T R AT E G I E S Eric Temple-Morris 503 203 1060 BUSINESS ADVERTISING STRATEGIST, EAST Pamela Peterson pamela.peterson@cmpmedica.com 201 984 6246 BUSINESS ADVERTISING STRATEGIST, MIDWEST, SOUTH Seth Geller seth.geller@cmpmedica.com 410 818 2716 OFFICE ADMINISTRATOR Samantha Williamson samantha.williamson@cmpmedica.com 503 203 1059 eric.temple-morris@cmpmedica.com PHARMACEUTICAL ADVERTISING SALES Eric Temple-Morris 503 203 1060 eric.temple-morris@cmpmedica.com BUSINESS SERVICES VICE PRESIDENT/RESEARCH, MARKETING AND CIRCULATION Beatrix Eriksen SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER, B2B STRATEGIES Amy Tubman SENIOR MARKETING MANAGER, HOSPITAL STRATEGIES Monique Grifﬁn TRADESHOW AND EVENTS MARKETING MANAGER Kristin Pichon CLIENT RELATIONS MANAGER Lindsay Moe CLIENT RELATIONS SPECIALIST Monica Brooks GROUP DIRECTOR OF MANUFACTURING AND PRODUCTION Steve Sanborn GROUP PRODUCTION MANAGER Carlos Yanez TRAFFIC PRODUCTION COORDINATOR Melissa Malpica CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING SALES Valley Forge Publishing Group 800 983 7737 HEADQUARTERS: 5523 Research Park Drive, Suite 220 Baltimore, Maryland 21228 Phone: 443 543 5100; Toll Free: 800 781 2211 Fax: 443 543 5170; E-mail: info@physicianspractice.com Web: www.PhysiciansPractice.com FOR SUBSCRIPTION SERVICES FOR PHYSICIANS PRACTICE: Contact Colleen Tricarico at 203 662 6553 or colleen.tricarico@cmpmedica.com PHYSICIANS PRACTICE® (ISSN 1072-2912), published by CMP Healthcare Media LLC, is distributed to more than 280,000 U.S. physicians. Copyright © 2008 by CMP Healthcare Media LLC. Single copies $10; annual subscription $56. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Send address changes to: Physicians Practice, c/o CMPMedica, 330 Boston Post Road, Darien, CT 06820; or send by email to wdingle@cmp.com. 12 | PHYSICIANS PRACTICE | NOVEMBER 2008 WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM http://www.PhysiciansPractice.com http://WWW.PHYSICIANSPRACTICE.COM

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Physician's Practice - November 2008

Physician's Practice - November 2008 Contents Death of Solo Practice Just a Myth Letters HSAy What? Noteworthy Finding Lost Revenue: The Search for Billing and Coding Gold Getting More: Our Annual Physician Compensation Survey ’Tis the Season to be Neutral Ask the Experts Evaluating Paperless Labs HR in a Box? The Guide Coding Third-Party Audits on the Rise Branding the Cash-Only Practice Intra-Office Tug-of-Wars Stickin‘ Up For Yourself Classifieds Advertiser Index

Physician's Practice - November 2008

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