The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this week released preliminary information on its new quality-reporting program, the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). Beginning July 1, physicians who participate in the voluntary program in 2007 will receive lump sum bonus payments in early 2008 equivalent to 1.5 percent of their total allowed charges for covered professional services.

To be eligible for the bonus, you must report on at least three of the 66 quality measures in 80 percent of applicable cases. If there are not three measures that are relevant to your practice, you need only report on those that are applicable.

You do not need to enroll to participate in the program. You must simply report the appropriate quality measure data on claims using G-codes and/or CPT II codes.

Exact details of the program—including all of the reporting requirements and the feedback loop—have not yet been finalized. Stay tuned for more details.

More information is available at the Medicare PQRI website, http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri.

Contact: Sandra Bressler, 415/882-5171 or sbressler@cmanet.org.