CMS News

The following information has been received by ANCO.


****CMS NEWS****
Beginning December 19, 2008, the names of physicians and other health care professionals who reported quality information under the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) in 2007 will be available at www.medicare.gov\physician, the Physician and Other Healthcare Professional Directory located on www.medicare.gov. This information includes all eligible professionals identified by their National Provider Identifier (NPI) who submitted at least one quality data code on their Medicare claims for services furnished between July 1, 2007 and December 31, 2007.

The PQRI is a voluntary reporting program. A physician or other healthcare professional can choose whether to report quality information to Medicare under the PQRI program. Reporting quality information by professionals is an important means to promote improved quality of care to Medicare beneficiaries. There are, however, numerous reasons why physicians or other healthcare professionals, who are committed to providing high quality care to their patients, may have chosen not to report quality information under the PQRI Program which began in 2007.

For more information on the PQRI and the instructions for reporting and requirements for satisfactory reporting, go to http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri.
Detailed information on the 2009 PQRI may be found in the 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule with comment period (73 FR 69817 through 69847) that was published in the Federal Register on November 19, 2008. The final rule with comment period can be found in the “Related Links Outside of CMS” section of the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative website at: http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2008/pdf/E8-26213.pdf on the CMS website.

Reporting for the 2009 PQRI begins January 1, 2009. Please note there is no need to sign up or pre-register in order to participate.