Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Plus: Look for 2009 incentive payments this fall, CMS says. If all of your physicians are gung-ho about participating in PQRI except one holdout who is tentative about the program, you can still go ahead and participate without that practitioner. That's the word according to a June 22 CMS-sponsored PQRI conference call. Suppose your practice employs four physicians, three of whom are happily plugging along with the Physician Quality Reporting Incentive (PQRI) program, and one who isn't interested in participating. You can still collect PQRI bonuses for the three who participate. "Each one is separately and individually analyzed for qualification," said Michael Rapp, MD, director of CMS's quality measurement and health assessment group. "That fourth person, however, their charges will not be counted toward the bonus," Rapp said. The Physician Fee Schedule charges for the three participating physicians will count toward the bonus, and the fourth physician's charges won't, he [...]